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Tararua District Council

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Tararua District Council ∙26 Gordon Street ∙ PO Box 115 ∙ Dannevirke 4942
∙ Tararua

P: 06 374 4080  F: 06 374 4137

Web: [1]www.tararuadc.govt.nz

 

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References

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Good morning Aaron,

 

I am writing in response to your email request to Tararua District
Council, on 9 September 2020. You have asked for information relating to
unsanitary or unhealthy housing.

 

Council has evaluated your request and determined it would not require a
significant amount of staff resource. It does not attract a printing
charge, as a hardcopy of the information has not been requested. There is
no need for Council to provide you with an estimate of costs, prior to
undertaking this work, as the information can be provided to you free of
charge.

 

Responses to the information requested are provided below.

 

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 – visits are at tenant’s request.

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? Complaint driven.

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? Complaint received by phone/email/letter and
lodged in Council’s customer request management system.

5. What information is available on your website or in your publications
on rental housing inspections provided by the Council? Nuisance properties
section covering Health Act issues.

6. What is your process for engaging with the Tenancy Tribunal to provide
reports on the rental housing inspections you conduct? Letter/notice to
tenant.

 

I trust this satisfies your enquiry.

 

Cheers

 

Craig Lunn | Manager Regulatory Services MNZPI

 

Tararua District Council ∙26 Gordon Street ∙ PO Box 115 ∙ Dannevirke 4942
∙ Tararua

P:  06 374 4080  DDI:  06 374 4186  M:  027 600 3447  Web:
www.tararuadc.govt.nz

 

This email and any attachments is intended for the above named recipient
only and may be confidential. 

If you have received it in error, please take no action based on it, copy
it, or show it to anyone. 

Please return to the sender and delete your copy.  Thank you. 

 

 

-----Original Message-----

From: Aaron Packard <[1][FOI #13740 email]>

Sent: Wednesday, 9 September 2020 5:45 PM

To: Info - Tararua District Council <[2][email address]>

Subject: Official Information request - How is the Council using its
rights under the Public Health Act to inspect rental housing properties?

 

Dear Tararua 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)
<[3]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).

 

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This is an Official Information request made via the FYI website.

 

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:

[4][FOI #13740 email]

 

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[6]https://fyi.org.nz/change_request/new?bo...

 

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ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA or LGOIMA
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References

Visible links
1. mailto:[FOI #13740 email]
2. mailto:[email address]
3. https://wellington.govt.nz/~/media/your-...
4. mailto:[FOI #13740 email]
5. mailto:[Tararua District Council request email]
6. https://fyi.org.nz/change_request/new?bo...
7. https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers

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