Hi Aaron,

 

Many thanks for your email.

 

I have forwarded your email onto our Council Secretary.

 

Kind regards

 

 

 

Jo Hartnell

Customer and Information Advisor

DDI 03 314 8816 | Fax 03 314 9181

Email [1][email address] |Web [2]hurunui.govt.nz

Mail PO Box 13, Amberley 7441

 

 

[3]Capture 7

 

 

 

 

 

 

From: Aaron Packard <[FOI #13781 email]>
Sent: Sunday, 13 September 2020 5:35 pm
To: CustomerServices <[email address]>
Subject: Official Information request - How is the Council using its
rights under the Public Health Act to inspect rental housing properties?

 

Dear Hurunui 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)
<[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 #13781 email]

Is [6][Hurunui District Council request email] the wrong address for Official Information
requests to Hurunui District 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

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page.

show quoted sections

Hi Aaron

 

Please find answers below to your questions, as provided by our Team
Leader Compliance.  One small note, the correct reference is the Health
Act, not the Public Health Act, so that is how the responses are
referenced.

 

Kind regards

Graham

 

Graham Sutherland

Council Secretary

[mobile number]| Fax 03 314 9181

Email [1][email address] | Web [2]hurunui.govt.nz

Mail PO Box 13, Amberley 7441

 

Please note my working hours are: Tuesday to Friday, 8:30am-5.30pm

 

 

[3]Description: Email Signature[4]Description: Facebook email
sig[5]Description: Twitter Email Sig [6]Description: LinkedIn Email
Sig [7]Description: Skype Email Sig

“Making our district even better.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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?

 

                We have not exercised powers under the Health Act
specifically to inspect rental housing. We usually rely on the Building
Act 2004 and our inspections focus on dangerous or insanitary conditions.

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?

 

We haven’t issued any notices to landlords under the Health Act. We have
on occasion issued notices under the Building Act, and we have also taken
informal action (i.e. given direction to building owners who were
co-operative) pursuant to the Building Act.

These have not related to failure to comply with the Housing Improvement
Regulations, but have been for dangerous or insanitary issues, or Notices
to Fix for building work carried out without consent.

3. How do you identify which rental housing properties to inspect under
the Public Health Act?

 

We don’t carry out routine inspections of rental housing under the 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?

 

Requests are received by the Council’s Customer Services Team and logged
as a request for service. We do not have a defined process for requests
for rental property inspections. The requests that we have received in the
past usually relate to a specific issue, e.g. blocked drains or unsafe
electric wiring, and have been responded to using the Building Act.

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

 

As this is not a service we provide we don’t have any information about it
on our website.

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

We have not engaged directly with the Tribunal. We have provided
information (e.g. file notes, photos from inspections) to parties involved
in tenancy or property disputes.

The usual mechanism is for a party to request the information under the
Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987.

 

Further note:

Our understanding is that MBIE’s Tenancy Services Department have a
Tenancy Compliance and Investigations Team who deal with matters under the
Healthy Homes Standards.

 

 

From: Aaron Packard <[8][FOI #13781 email]>
Sent: Sunday, 13 September 2020 5:35 pm
To: CustomerServices <[9][email address]>
Subject: Official Information request - How is the Council using its
rights under the Public Health Act to inspect rental housing properties?

 

Dear Hurunui 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)
<[10]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:
[11][FOI #13781 email]

Is [12][Hurunui District Council request email] the wrong address for Official Information
requests to Hurunui District Council? If so, please contact us using this
form:
[13]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:
[14]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.

show quoted sections