No to ‘extreme’ housing WOF

We’re trying to find the solution that helps lift the standard of housing without making the problem worse by forcing housing stock out of the market.

The Government won’t support ‘‘extreme measures’’ like warrant of fitness checks for all houses because it will drive up rent and push housing stock out of the market, says Finance Minister Bill English.

But Labour MP Phil Twyford, who had his Healthy Homes bill voted down in Parliament, said the Government needed to wake up to the fact the country’s houses were ‘‘crap quality’’ and were hospitalising children with thirdworld illnesses.

Labour was calling for crossparty support for its bill that would ensure every rental property in the country – state or pri- vate – met a minimum standard of living, including heating and insulation.

Twyford said the cost of retrofitting a standard New Zealand house with floor and ceiling insulation and a heat pump would cost only about $5000.

That investment would about 15-20 years, he said.

‘‘I’m staggered the Government hasn’t moved on this issue.’’

Labour leader Andrew Little had resubmitted Twyford’s bill but English told TVNZ’s Q+A it was unlikely the Government would adopt it because it would result in ‘‘mass inspection of every house in the country’’.

‘‘We’re not going to adopt extreme measures, we want to get something practical and affordable

last that will start lifting the standard,’’ he said.

‘‘We’re trying to find the solution that helps lift the standard of housing without making the problem worse by forcing housing stock out of the market or people out of houses they can no longer afford.’’

The standard of living in state houses is back on the political agenda after the death of an Auckland toddler in August last year.

The coroner’s report into the toddler’s death, which was released on Thursday, said the poor condition of the state house in the South Auckland suburb of Otara was a contributing factor to Emma-Lita Bourne’s death.

Little said the Government’s unwillingness to support a warrant of fitness system for homes showed ‘‘more short-sightedness and irresponsibility’’.

It was a public health issue and more important than ever in light of the death of an Auckland toddler.

‘‘We know our housing stock is of a very low quality . . . we do need to have some minimum standards of housing and they do need to include heating and insulation and they need to be healthy homes,’’ Little said.

In 2014, the Government trialled a warrant of fitness on 500 state houses, which included checks on insulations, leaks, smoke alarms, toilet facilities and power points.

But Housing Minister Nick Smith was reluctant to extend the warrants to all public and private rentals because if the Government prohibited the rental of homes unless they were fully insulated it would mean taking 100,000 homes off the market. English said that would create more problems than it would solve.

But Labour leader Andrew Little said no policy would throw people out of their homes, and reasonable measures and timetables would be put in place to get the work done.

That might include improving homes at an ‘‘opportune time’’, such as when a tenant moves out and before another moves in.

‘‘You’ve got to make a start somewhere and nobody is going to push someone out of a house,’’ he said.

The Green Party also called for a warrant of fitness for all rentals and challenged the Government to adopt their bill.

Bill English