Controversy over rental WOF - again

Just under half of renters reported they had a problem with dampness or mould, compared with around one-quarter of home-owners, according to Statistics New Zealand data released on Thursday.

Household statistics manager Mark Gordon said the 2014 General Social Survey shows that only 7.1% of New Zealanders felt their home needed urgent or major repairs or maintenance.

But nearly two-thirds (64%) said their home needed at least some work, he said.

“A major factor in whether people reported cold and damp was whether or not they were renting. Groups of people who were more likely to rent were also more likely to report problems.”

The data was released on the same day as Parliament’s speaker, David Carter, prevented a Labour Party bid to introduce another rental WOF bill into the system.

Carter said that Labour Party leader Andrew Little’s Healthy Homes Guarantee Bill (No 2), which would introduce minimum standards for rental housing, was the same in substance as an earlier bill that was voted down in March.

This is not allowed under Parliamentary rules, Carter said.

However, Little said the Clerk of the House had been consulted to ensure the wording and aims of the Bill were substantially different enough from the earlier Bill to allow it to be in the ballot.

The decision showed the Government was more interested in playing political games than in addressing the national disgrace of unhealthy, cold, damp homes, Little said.

While Labour’s latest attempt at introducing a rental WOF may have failed, the Green Party still have their Residential Tenancies (Warm, Safe and Secure Rentals) Amendment Bill in the Parliamentary ballot. 

Attempts at introducing minimum standards for rental properties have gathered increasing momentum over the last year.

However, NZ Property Investors Federation executive officer Andrew King said the whole WOF issue has been openly and stringently examined in recent years.

The conclusion to all the research and discussion is that it is expensive and doesn't target the key desires of warm dry rental properties, he said.

“The harder it is for investors to provide rental property, the more expensive and restrictive it will be for tenants.”