Rental standards ‘attack landlords’ Petition seeks to ease difficulties of autistic people
The National Party’s housing spokeswoman, Judith Collins, says the Government’s new standards for rental homes are an attack on landlords.
The new rules, announced on Sunday, include a requirement for all rentals to have a heater that can warm the main living area up to 18 degrees Celsius.
The homes must also have ceiling and underfloor insulation that meets 2008 Building Code standards, or for existing ceiling insulation to have a minimum thickness of 120mm.
From mid-2021, private landlords must ensure their rental properties comply with the healthy home standards within 90 days of any new tenancy.
Collins told Radio NZ’s Morning Report the Government was making it harder for landlords to continue investing in the property market.
‘‘We’ve got capital gains taxes, generally a tax on landlords, it’s very difficult to see anything (Housing Minister) Phil Twyford has done or the Government is doing that isn’t an attack on residential landlords,’’ she said.
‘‘There will in fact be increases in the state house waiting list, I’m predicting, and I believe that we are going to have more rents rising sooner and faster than they have over the last year, which is by $40 a week.’’
Twyford told Morning Report the aim of the new regulations was to stop the bottom end of the private rental market undercutting decent landlords by renting out houses that are a risk to the health of the people living in them. ‘‘The National Party and the landlords’ lobby groups have got a million excuses why these reforms shouldn’t take place.’’
Mike Butler, spokesperson for landlords group Stop the War on Tenancies, told Morning Report that a graph supplied to the Government showed ceiling insulation thickness required by a 1978 standard achieved a gain of about 80 per cent. Bringing the insulation up to the 2008 standard, only increased that to about 90 per cent efficiency.
In many cases, insulation to the 1978 standard, if it had not deteriorated, was still good to go.
There was also no evidence for the claim that 18C was a healthy temperature, he said.
The regulations said a fixed heater was needed to heat properties to that level, but the evidence showed that what was needed was an efficient heater that could be fixed or portable.
‘‘People have had no difficulties heating themselves to temperatures they want since forever,’’ Butler said.
He said a Branz survey had found just 2.7 per cent of tenants complained about cold, damp housing. ‘‘This is evidence that contradicts the fevered claims of tenant advocates and people like the minister,’’ he said.
‘‘The standards are really a triumph of ideology over evidence.’’
Butler’s claims were ‘‘quite wrong’’, Twyford said. A benefitcost analysis done by NZIER, backed up by Otago University research, showed that what was being proposed benefited the largest number of rental homes and was justified by a ‘‘very healthy benefit-cost ratio’’ of more than 1.5.
Referring to Butler’s comments about the 1978 insulation standards, Twyford said insulation didn’t last 40 years.
But he also noted ‘‘landlords have waited until the last minute’’ to meet lower insulation standards with a July 2019 deadline put in place by the former National government.
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson said National would rather save landlords money than look after sick children.
‘‘If landlords can only justify an investment by leasing out a property that makes New Zealanders sick, then they shouldn’t be in the business.’’ For Joshua Sime, the simple act of going to the supermarket is a struggle.
So the 18-year-old from Wainuiomata, who has autism, is taking a petition to Parliament to do something about it.
‘‘Everyone dreads shopping but we get stressed to the point where some of us may even break down,’’ Sime said.
The bright lights, crowds and small children made shopping for necessities ‘‘near impossible’’ for those with autism and other disabilities such as obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), he said.
‘‘It’s something we dread every week. Sometimes I go hungry because I find it hard to go to the supermarket,’’ he said.
‘‘A friend a while back also had autism, and he had to wear some sunglasses, a hat and headphones.
‘‘There isn’t much support in New Zealand for autism compared to other countries. This would help.’’
The petition calls for supermarkets to have a few hours a week where people with autism and other disabilities could shop in peace and quiet.
It could also be good for other people who struggled with noise and crowds, such as the elderly, he said.
Quiet hours have been in place at Countdown in Marton since last April, with staff switching off some lights, turning off the music, and making sure there was no-one stocking shelves or moving trolleys.
The first event was so successful that the store now hosts it every Wednesday from 3pm to 4pm, and another Countdown, at Three Kings in Auckland, introduced the concept in August.
But six months later, no further stores had followed suit, Sime said.
‘‘We’re not like people without autism. We can’t just go into a supermarket and do our shopping and then go home.
‘‘It’s really important that they notice the issue.’’
Sime, who is studying cyber security engineering at Victoria University, said it would ‘‘mean a lot to myself and many people with autism and disabilities out there. And there are many’’.
Autism is thought to affect about 40,000 New Zealanders.