How is the Council using its rights under the Public Health Act to inspect rental housing properties?
Aaron Packard made this Official Information request to New Plymouth District Council
The request was successful.
From: Aaron Packard
Dear New Plymouth District Council,
Last month, the Wellington City Council tabled a report* looking into the powers that the council has to inspect and report on unsanitary or unhealthy housing. The report showed that the Council has significantly stronger powers to enforce healthy and sanitary housing that it had been aware of or was practising. These powers are applicable to all local, unitary and district councils. You can read the legislative basis for these powers in the appendix below.
Renters United is a national organisation of renters campaigning to improve conditions for all renters in Aotearoa. We are concerned that many councils around the country are not adequately using their powers to ensure housing is healthy and sanitary, particularly private rental housing.
We write to request the following information under the Local Government Information and Meetings Act 1987:
1. In the past five years, how many times has the Council used their rights under the Public Health Act to inspect rental housing properties?
2. In the past five years, how many times has the Council exercised its powers to issue a repair or closure notice to landlords whose properties do not meet the Housing Improvement Regulations?
3. How do you identify which rental housing properties to inspect under the Public Health Act?
4. What is the process for tenants to request the Council inspect their rental housing property under the Public Health Act and provide a written report on its condition?
5. What information is available on your website or in your publications on rental housing inspections provided by the Council?
6. What is your process for engaging with the Tenancy Tribunal to provide reports on the rental housing inspections you conduct?
We look forward to hearing from you as soon as reasonably practicable.
Thank you.
Aaron Packard
Renters United Organiser
027 3519994
Appendix:
The legislative basis
The Housing Improvement Regulations 1947, originally made under the Housing Improvement Act 1945, are now in force under the Health Act 1956 (s120c). These regulations require that, for example, housing is free from dampness, fitted with an approved form of heating, provided with sufficient windows, provided with a toilet, and that rooms are of a minimum size. Many of these regulations are encompassed in more recent legislation, including under the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 and the Residential Tenancies Act (Healthy Homes Standards) Regulations 2019. Under the Health Act 1956, local bodies are directed and empowered to enforce the regulations in their district (s23d). If housing does not comply with the Housing Improvement Regulations, local bodies can issue a repair notice or a closure notice**. The council’s public health team should inspect properties upon request and provide a written report for tenants or the Tenancy Tribunal on their observations of the state of the property.
*Wellington City Council, ‘Safety of Housing in Wellington’, in Ordinary Meeting of Strategy and Policy Committee, 2020, pp. 245–52 (p. 251) <https://wellington.govt.nz/~/media/your-...>.
**Barry Barton, ‘A Warm and Dry Place to Live: Energy Efficiency and Rental Accommodation’, Canterbury Law Review, 19 (2013), 1–25 (pp. 10–13).
From: Enquiries
New Plymouth District Council
Thank you for getting in touch with New Plymouth District Council.
This is an auto-reply confirming the receipt of your email.
This mailbox is monitored during normal business hours (from 8am Monday to 5pm Fridays, excluding public holidays) and we will allocate your request to the appropriate team for response/action during these hours.
If the matter is urgent, please phone us 06-759 6060 and our friendly team will be happy to help.
The content of this email is confidential and may contain copyright information and/or be legally privileged. The information contained in this email is intended only for the recipient named in the email message. If this email is not intended for you, you must not use, read, distribute or copy it. If you have received this email message in error please notify the sender immediately and erase the original message and any attachments from your system. Thank you.
Statements in this email and any attachments do not necessarily reflect the views of New Plymouth District Council.
For more information about New Plymouth District Council, visit our website at www.newplymouthnz.com
Are you a ratepayer? Did you know you can get your rates notices by email? Sign up now at www.newplymouthnz.com/rates
From: Mimie Van der Merwe
New Plymouth District Council
Dear Aaron
Thank you for request relating to council using its rights under public
health legislation to inspect rental housing properties.
Below please see our response (in italics) to your questions:
1. In the past five years, how many times has the Council used their
rights under the Public Health Act to inspect rental housing
properties?
None
2. In the past five years, how many times has the Council exercised its
powers to issue a repair or closure notice to landlords whose
properties do not meet the Housing Improvement Regulations?
None
3. How do you identify which rental housing properties to inspect under
the Public Health Act?
Not applicable as we do not carry out such inspections
4. What is the process for tenants to request the Council inspect their
rental housing property under the Public Health Act and provide a
written report on its condition?
Not applicable as we do not offer such a service
5. What information is available on your website or in your publications
on rental housing inspections provided by the Council?
None as we do not provide this service
6. What is your process for engaging with the Tenancy Tribunal to provide
reports on the rental housing inspections you conduct?
Not applicable as we do not carry out such inspections
Please do not hesitate to contact me should you require further
information.
Kind Regards
Mimie
Mimié van der Merwe
Enforcement Coordinator
New Plymouth District Council | Liardet St | Private Bag 2025 | New
Plymouth 4342 | Ph 06-759 6060
[mobile number]|[1]www.newplymouthnz.com | [2]Facebook | [3]Twitter
P Please consider the environment before printing this email
[4]cid:image003.png@01D4B329.90EED7F0
The content of this email is confidential and may contain copyright
information and/or be legally privileged. The information contained in
this email is intended only for the recipient named in the email message.
If this email is not intended for you, you must not use, read, distribute
or copy it. If you have received this email message in error please notify
the sender immediately and erase the original message and any attachments
from your system. Thank you.
Statements in this email and any attachments do not necessarily reflect
the views of New Plymouth District Council.
For more information about New Plymouth District Council, visit our
website at [5]www.newplymouthnz.com
Are you a ratepayer? Did you know you can get your rates notices by email?
Sign up now at [6]www.newplymouthnz.com/rates
This email has been filtered by SMX. For more information visit
[7]smxemail.com
References
Visible links
1. http://www.newplymouthnz.com/
2. http://www.facebook.com/#!/NewPlymouthDi...
3. http://twitter.com/#!/NPDCouncil
5. file:///tmp/www.newplymouthnz.com
6. file:///tmp/www.newplymouthnz.com/rates
7. http://smxemail.com/
Things to do with this request
- Add an annotation (to help the requester or others)
- Download a zip file of all correspondence
Offensive? Unsuitable?
Requests for personal information and vexatious requests are not considered valid requests for Official Information (read more).
If you believe this request is not suitable, you can report it for attention by the site administrators
Report this request