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Making rentals warm & dry
Housing Minister Phil Twyford on Sunday announced the new standards that set minimum requirements for heating, insulation, ventilation, moisture, drainage and draught stopping.
All rental homes will be required to have a heater in the main living area, ceiling and underfloor insulation, bathroom extraction fans and kitchen rangehoods, adequate drainage and guttering, and for any draughts to be blocked.
Public Health Professor Philippa Howden-Chapman, from the University of Otago, welcomed the standards which she says are "sorely needed to improve New Zealanders’ health and wellbeing".
"Cold, damp and mouldy homes make us sick", she says, with at least 6,000 kids hospitalised every year. "Many of those illnesses and deaths, and days missed from work and school, can be reduced by making homes warm and dry."
The announcement coincided with the Southern Hemisphere launch of the World Health Organization (WHO) International Housing and Health Guidelines at the University of Otago, Wellington, on Monday. WHO Coordinator for Air Pollution and Urban Health Dr Nathalie Röbbel was there for the launch. She told RNZ: "Vulnerable people like children and the elderly spend a lot of time at home, so it's a necessity from a public health perspective to make sure the places where people live are safe."
New
research from Motu Economic and Public Policy Research
fellow Lynn Riggs released at the launch found
preventable injuries and hospitalisations due to poor
housing conditions in New Zealand could be costing more than
$145 million annually in ACC claims and hospitalisation
costs. She told NewstalkZB the new standards
are "a good start to addressing the illnesses related to
some of these problems".
The SMC asked experts to comment on the new
standards.
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