Mike Butler: WOF under active consideration

One year of questioning the government under the Official Information Act on a rental property warrant-of-fitness scheme has revealed that amendments to the Residential Tenancies Act to enable such a scheme have been drafted and all information I requested on the scheme remains under active consideration.

Nearly a year ago, I sent in a request to the Minister of Housing, Nick Smith, under the Official Information Act, seeking all advice related to the warrant of fitness scheme for state housing and any proposed warrant of fitness schemes for private sector rental housing”.

Mike Butler: Blaming landlords for dampness

A proposed warrant of fitness scheme for rental properties tends to blame landlords for dampness that could be solved by occupants simply opening windows and wiping away condensation.

Dampness in a home could come from rain or ground moisture; from plumbing leaks or portable gas heaters; from cooking, showering, cleaning, and washing and drying laundry; and from breathing, perspiration, animals, or plants.

Mike Butler: Landlords blamed for power price

Wild claims about cold housing used by proponents of a rental property warrant of fitness look like an attempt to shift to landlords the blame for expensive electricity, most of which is generated by government-owned companies.

The electricity price per kilowatt hour has soared over 40 percent since 2008, from 17.044 cents to 23.969 cents, according to my Contact Energy bill. Data from the Ministry of Economic Development shows that average residential retail electricity prices have almost doubled since 2000. Meanwhile, rents have increased by around 60 percent since 2000.

Mike Butler: Alarm at healthy homes bill

Landlords and tenants should be alarmed at Labour MP Phil Twyford’s Healthy Homes Guarantee Bill that would immediately impose stringent requirements upon rental properties without defining those requirements.

Mr Twyford is seeking support for a bill that would: 1.Require the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority to set minimum standards for heating and insulation in rental properties by 1 April 2014. 2.Amend the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 to require all landlords to meet the standards. 3.Apply to all tenancy agreements made after the standards are published.

Mike Butler: WOF would increase rents

Tenants should be very alarmed at rent increases and more stringent standards that would come with a proposed warrant-of-fitness scheme. Upgrades averaging $9700 per rental property, a possibly unreasonable estimate by the Building Research Association of New Zealand after a survey of 491 properties throughout New Zealand, would increase rents by around $20 a week thus disadvantaging the people a WOF scheme purports to help.

The $20 extra is derived from an expected return of 10 percent per year from $9700 in remedial work that could be required to make a property comply with warrant-of-fitness standards. While $20 per week may not appear much, fuel poverty protesters would really kick up a fuss if a $20-a-week increase in the price of electricity was on the cards.

Mike Butler: WOF means hardship for tenants

Tenants should be very alarmed at rent increases and more stringent standards that would come with a proposed warrant-of-fitness scheme. Early indications from two trials are under way show that more properties fail than pass the test that requires ceiling insulation 120mm thick, under-floor insulation, and a supplied heater.

Upgrades averaging $9700 per rental property, as estimated by the Building Research Association of New Zealand after a survey of 491 properties throughout New Zealand, would increase rents by around $20 a week thus disadvantaging the people a WOF scheme purports to help. (1)

Mike Butler: Why the property WOF is a crock

A closer look at the 31-point property rental warrant of fitness checklist that is being trialled gives the appearance that it has been put together by people unacquainted with the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act, who are ignorant of how tenants live in New Zealand buildings, and who fail to understand the implications of building code compliance.

Two pilot warrant of fitness trials for rental properties are presently under way. One is a government initiative involving 500 Housing New Zealand properties and the other involves a “consortium” of interests involving the Auckland, Tauranga, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin councils, ACC, NZ Green Building Council, and the University of Otago.