The new regulation framework proposed by Government for rental properties is better than the status quo but does not go far enough, says Community Housing Aotearoa (CHA), the spokes body for the community housing sector, .
Director Scott Figenshow says insulation and fire alarms are very important and CHA applauds the Government for taking this step.
“But insulation is only half of the answer- you still need to heat the house.”
Under plans to strengthen the Residential Tenancies Act, all tenanted properties will require floor and ceiling insulation by mid-2019, while social housing which receives government subsidies will require insulation by July next year. All rentals will also need to have long-life smoke alarms installed.
Scott Figenshow says CHA wants to see effective and efficient heating that families can afford to operate included in the regulations.
“The tenancies provided by community housing providers already exceed these new regulations. Regulation is accepted as necessary by the sector for the operation of social and affordable housing markets,” he says.
Community housing organisations are home to more than 15,000 New Zealanders and CHA believes that “housing is the centre of the jigsaw – if we can fix this we can fix a host of other social problems.”
