Good morning Aaron

Thank you for your information request.

This email is to formally advise that pursuant to Section 13 of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (LGOIMA), Council are required to consider your request and advise as soon as practicable, and no later than 20 working days after the receipt of this request, as to its decision to release (or otherwise) the requested information.

I’ll come back to you at my earliest opportunity.

Kind regards

Karalyn Reid| Committee Secretary / PA to the Mayor
Waimate District Council | 125 Queen Street | PO Box 122 | Waimate 7960 | New Zealand
|: +64 3 689 0000 | DDI: +64 3 689 0038
+: [email address]  |   www.waimatedc.govt.nz

-----Original Message-----
From: Aaron Packard <[FOI #13799 email]>
Sent: Monday, 14 September 2020 5:40 PM
To: council <[Waimate District Council request email]>
Subject: Official Information request - How is the Council using its rights under the Public Health Act to inspect rental housing properties?

Dear Waimate 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).

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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:
[FOI #13799 email]

Is [Waimate District Council request email] the wrong address for Official Information requests to Waimate District Council? If so, please contact us using this form:
https://fyi.org.nz/change_request/new?bo...

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Good morning Aaron

Thank you for your information request on the Public Health Act in relation to inspecting rental housing properties.

We have checked our records and spoken to our contract Environmental Health Officers, and our answers are 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? The Council has used powers under the Health Act 1956 in order to enter one rental property over the past 5 years. The problem was a tenant issue not a landlord issue.

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? In relation to the same property, Council exercised powers under the Health Act 1956 to give effect to a cleansing order within a specified timeframe.

3. How do you identify which rental housing properties to inspect under the Public Health Act? Powers used in relation to inspection are only used following a health complaint that could present a threat to individual or community health, ordinarily on a property rather than inside a dwelling. On occasion information is received that would trigger an informal visit. The informal visit may further substantiate a complaint that triggers the use of inspection powers, or reassure the inspector that in fact the complaint was in error and no inspection is required. Ordinarily, sufficient and cogent evidence is required to trigger an inspection.

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? This is not a service provided by Council in the absence of evidence that would trigger concerns under the Health Act 1956.

5. What information is available on your website or in your publications on rental housing inspections provided by the Council? See above.

6. What is your process for engaging with the Tenancy Tribunal to provide reports on the rental housing inspections you conduct? See above.

I hope this information satisfies your enquiry.

Kind Regards

Ngā mihi
Karalyn

Karalyn Reid| Committee Secretary / PA to the Mayor Waimate District Council | 125 Queen Street | PO Box 122 | Waimate 7960 | New Zealand
|: +64 3 689 0000 | DDI: +64 3 689 0038
+: [email address]  |   www.waimatedc.govt.nz

-----Original Message-----
From: Aaron Packard <[FOI #13799 email]>
Sent: Monday, 14 September 2020 5:40 PM
To: council <[Waimate District Council request email]>
Subject: Official Information request - How is the Council using its rights under the Public Health Act to inspect rental housing properties?

Dear Waimate 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).

-------------------------------------------------------------------

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

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #13799 email]

Is [Waimate District Council request email] the wrong address for Official Information requests to Waimate District Council? If so, please contact us using this form:
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:
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.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

hide quoted sections