crowded_03Many lives, especially those of young children, would be saved if we had decent standards for rental housing in New Zealand. It is good news that the Government is finally doing something but proposed new laws set the standards too low to make any real difference.

The Government has now brought a draft law into Parliament to introduce minimum standards for rental housing. The proposed standards were announced in July and the October Kete Kupu, our analysis was that the proposed changes are half-hearted and not likely to achieve the desired results. They also ignore the wealth of evidence from research showing the wide social, health and economic benefits of higher standards are well above the costs.

Take Action and Make Submission for Higher Standards

NZCCSS and others groups will be analysing the new Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill to see what is actually being proposed and we hope to make our draft analysis available before submissions on the Bill close on 27th January 2016

Make a submission on the Bill – go to the Parliament website to view the Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill.

At the same time as Parliament is asking for submissions, the department responsible for administering the rental laws, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), is asking for comment on changes to regulations will set the rules about how much insulation, how many smoke alarms and which properties will be excluded from the new requirements.

More information is on the MBIE website where you can download Questions and Answers about the regulations and as well as a full discussion document and comment is due by 11th February 2016.