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 Palmerston North City Council
The request was partially successful.
From: Aaron Packard
Dear Palmerston North City 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The Housing Improvement Regulations 1947, originally made under the Housing Improvement Act 1945, are now in force under the Health Act 1956 (s120c).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: info
Palmerston North City Council
Thank you for your email. We will respond as soon as possible.
Palmerston North City Council
Customer Services
06 356 8199
From: Merle Lavin
Palmerston North City Council
Hello Aaron,
I am writing to acknowledge receipt of your official information request
of 9/9/2020.
We will endeavour to respond to your request as soon as possible and in
any event no later than 8/10/2020 being 20 working days after the day
your request was received.
If we are unable to respond to your request by then, we will notify you of
an extension of that timeframe.
If you have any queries, please feel free to contact me.
Thanks,
Merle
MERLE LAVIN l Democracy & Governance Support Officer
Palmerston North City Council l Private Bag 11034 l Palmerston North
P: +64 (6) 3568199 l F: +64 (6) 355 4115 l [1]www.pncc.govt.nz
From: Info Queue <[email address]>
Sent: Wednesday, 9 September 2020 5:48 pm
To: Merle Lavin <[email address]>
Subject: FW: Official Information request - How is the Council using its
rights under the Public Health Act to inspect rental housing properties?
[#8695DI]
-----Original Message-----
From: "Aaron Packard" <[2][FOI #13739 email]>
Sent: Wednesday, 9 September 2020 5:43 pm
To: "Palmerston North City Council Info" <[3][email address]>
Subject: Official Information request - How is the Council using its
rights under the Public Health Act to inspect rental housing properties?
Dear Palmerston North City 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)
<[4]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).
-------------------------------------------------------------------
This is an Official Information request made via the FYI website.
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[5][FOI #13739 email]
Is [6][Palmerston North City Council request email] the wrong address for Official Information
requests to Palmerston North City Council? If so, please contact us using
this form:
[7]https://fyi.org.nz/change_request/new?bo...
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[8]https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers
If you find this service useful as an Official Information officer, please
ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA or LGOIMA
page.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
References
Visible links
1. http://www.pncc.govt.nz/
2. mailto:[FOI #13739 email]
3. mailto:[email address]
4. https://wellington.govt.nz/~/media/your-...
5. mailto:[FOI #13739 email]
6. mailto:[Palmerston North City Council request email]
7. https://fyi.org.nz/change_request/new?bo...
8. https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers
hide quoted sections
From: Merle Lavin
Palmerston North City Council
Hello Aaron,
I refer to your official information request shown below. Council’s
Principal Environmental Health Officer has provided the following
response:-
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 – Complaint driven and visits are at the request of tenants.
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 – No notices have been issued under Housing Improvement Regulation
1947.
3. How do you identify which rental housing properties to inspect under
the Public Health Act?
This is a reactive service and visits are made at the request of the
tenant.
5. What information is available on your website or in your publications
on rental housing inspections provided by the Council?
PNCC has an Eco Design Advisor which is advertised on website.
https://www.pncc.govt.nz/rates-building-...
6. What is your process for engaging with the Tenancy Tribunal to provide
reports on the rental housing inspections you conduct?
The Eco Design Advisor provides a letter to the tenant to take to Tenancy
Tribunal outlining what was observed on day, their professional opinion on
cause and how to remedy issue.
If you wish the response to be reviewed, you can refer the matter to the
Office of the Ombudsman, P.O Box 10-152, The Terrace, Wellington 6143.
Thanks,
Merle
MERLE LAVIN l Democracy & Governance Support Officer
Palmerston North City Council l Private Bag 11034 l Palmerston North
P: +64 (6) 3568199 l F: +64 (6) 355 4115 l [1]www.pncc.govt.nz
From: Info Queue <[2][email address]>
Sent: Wednesday, 9 September 2020 5:48 pm
To: Merle Lavin <[3][email address]>
Subject: FW: Official Information request - How is the Council using its
rights under the Public Health Act to inspect rental housing properties?
[#8695DI]
-----Original Message-----
From: "Aaron Packard" <[4][FOI #13739 email]>
Sent: Wednesday, 9 September 2020 5:43 pm
To: "Palmerston North City Council Info" <[5][email address]>
Subject: Official Information request - How is the Council using its
rights under the Public Health Act to inspect rental housing properties?
Dear Palmerston North City 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)
<[6]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).
-------------------------------------------------------------------
This is an Official Information request made via the FYI website.
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[7][FOI #13739 email]
Is [8][Palmerston North City Council request email] the wrong address for Official Information
requests to Palmerston North City Council? If so, please contact us using
this form:
[9]https://fyi.org.nz/change_request/new?bo...
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[10]https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers
If you find this service useful as an Official Information officer, please
ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA or LGOIMA
page.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
[11][IMG]
References
Visible links
1. http://www.pncc.govt.nz/
2. mailto:[email address]
3. mailto:[email address]
4. mailto:[FOI #13739 email]
5. mailto:[email address]
6. https://wellington.govt.nz/~/media/your-...
7. mailto:[FOI #13739 email]
8. mailto:[Palmerston North City Council request email]
9. https://fyi.org.nz/change_request/new?bo...
10. https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers
11. https://www.pncc.govt.nz/participate-pal...
hide quoted sections
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