5 June 2015

Urgency needed on the state of Housing NZ homes

“The preventable death of two year old Emma-Lita Bourne who lived in a damp and cold HNZ home is a travesty and it should be a sharp wake-up call for the Government.

“It cannot continue to sit on its hands while whānau are living in properties that are slowly killing them,” says Māori Party Co-leader Marama Fox.

The Māori Party has continued to advocate for healthy homes since 2011. Their advocacy has led to the insulation of 48,000 state houses and a warrant of fitness trial on 500 HNZ homes last year. The warrant of fitness trial looked at issues such as dampness, safety, security and essential amenities like power points and toilets.

“The results of the HNZ warrant of fitness trial which we initiated last year still haven’t been published. We also expected to see a proposal for a housing warrant of fitness in this year’s Budget but nothing has surfaced to date.

“We’ve heard lots of excuses for why homes can’t be made healthy and safer but no solutions,” says Mrs Fox.

Earlier this year, Māori Party Co-leader Te Ururoa Flavell called out private landlords in Christchurch for the appalling houses they are renting out to tenants.

“It is clear that we have two key issues on a housing warrant of fitness. One is the setting of minimum standards for landlords including the State and the other is the enforcement of those standards,” says Mr Flavell.

The Māori Party will continue to advocate for healthy homes and the enforcement of minimum housing standards for state and private rentals.

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