Proposed Housing Warrant of Fitness

Proposed Housing Warrant of Fitness

Background

Several national surveys and research studies have shown that private rental housing is in poorer condition than either social housing, or houses that are owner occupied. These results are consistent, regardless of the measurement tool used. Following the recommendations of the Children’s Commission’s Expert Working Group on Solutions to Child Poverty, the position of the large proportion of children in poor households who are renting in the private sector, has again highlighted the importance and utility of a Housing WoF in policy and government circles.

There are a number of measurement tools available, which could form the basis of a Housing WoF, most notably the Healthy Housing Index (HHI)(see Table One), which is the result of over a decade of development between He Kainga Oranga/Housing and Health Research Programme and BRANZ (including the measurement of several thousand houses)[1] and the New Zealand Green Building Council’s (NZGBC) Homestar tool. Researchers at He Kainga Oranga and the NZGBC have formally agreed to work together to combine the expertise of both groups and develop a Housing WoF and have met with MoBIE to discuss this plan.

Purpose of Housing WoF

Recognising the poor quality of much of New Zealand housing, and the impact of this on health, safety and poor energy efficiency, the proposed Housing WoF follows the now well-accepted analogy of a car WoF, which is concerned with the health & safety of passengers and others on the road. It’s not just the person, who owns the house that is affected by its quality, but tenants or visitors (the car passengers) and others who are affected if the car crashes (publically funded –costs such as ACC or hospital costs).

The focus of the Housing WoF should be to diminish the ‘information asymmetry’ in the housing market, i.e. the aspect of the house that are less obvious to potential tenants than the landlord (e.g. insulation, damp, injury hazards), rather than whether it is falling down, has flakey paint, or is in a nice location or neighbourhood). These aspects could be added on at a later stage.

The Housing WoF should concentrate on the small number of factors that have most impact on health, safety and energy efficiency. These factors must be measured by trained independent assessors, with building knowledge.

The Housing WoF should set a minimum acceptable standard for housing and incentivise improvements. It would provide a more robust basis for policy development, compliance monitoring and research on the quality of housing stock.

What the Housing WoF is

The Housing WoF is a measure of the essential factors that are agreed to affect health, safety and energy efficiency. It is oriented to the aspect of houses that are necessary for all households. [2] The draft elements of a Housing WoF are presented in Appendix One.

What the Housing WoF isn’t

It is not a substitute for a house condition or comprehensive home maintenance inspection or a house valuation. It does not necessarily identify ‘leaky buildings’. It does not cover how the house is ‘used’, i.e. housing knowledge, attitudes and practice and therefore it excludes household crowding.

What the Housing WoF could include in future

It can be extended to measure sustainability, resilience to natural hazards (such as earthquakes), and the suitability of the house for people with disability, older people or children.

How would the Housing WoF be implemented?

The WoF could initially be a voluntary, but advance notice should be given that within a set period regulation would be introduced. The regulatory bar should be set at a level that will not ‘fail’ an unacceptably high proportion of properties at the outset. There should be good buy-in from the public, politicians and (ideally) landlords.

Who could carry out the Housing WoF?

There are already a number of trainers and building assessors, who are trained to carry out the HHI and the Homestar rating. We have also had on-going discussions with Housing New Zealand, who have a large number of building assessors and we have had preliminary discussion with the NZ Fire Service, who have 450 fire stations around New Zealand and are keen to extend their health protection work.

What system would be used to measure the Housing WoF?

There is a prototype WoF inspection form that can be used on either an iPad or an Android tablet. There are a number of data applications that could be used, including the PS Pocket Survey that is used to measure housing in the England and the USA.

What would be the effect of a Housing WoF on the rental market?

The costs and benefits of a Housing WoF to tenants and landlords need to be evaluated in a pilot project, which ideally would be in a city like Wellington or Dunedin.

Do other countries have Housing WoF?

England provides a model for the use of housing assessment methods to improve housing quality and consequent health, safety and social outcomes. In 2001 England established a ‘Decent Homes’ standard, which states that houses should be warm, weatherproof and have reasonably modern facilities. Alongside the Housing Act 2004 the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) measures housing conditions. Rather than assessing against a fixed standard, the HHSRS employs a risk assessment approach to enable risks from hazards to health and safety in dwellings to be minimised. The system applies to all dwellings, regardless of ownership.

Once it is accepted that unsatisfactory housing conditions can have a negative effect on health, it is logical to assume that there will be a cost to society. In the UK the Audit Commission has recently stated that every £1 spent on providing housing support for vulnerable people can save nearly £2 in reduced costs of health services, tenancy failure, crime and residential care. Furthermore, a report that combines housing quality data from the HHSRS and health service costs highlights potential savings of more than £600 million a year from dealing with the most pressing housing problems, such as slips, trips, falls, mould and other treatable aspects of unhealthy housing. This saving to the health sector is thought to be around 40% of the total cost saving to society.

Appendix One: Draft Housing Warrant of Fitness

# / Question / Comments
1.  / Does the house have ceiling and under-floor insulation to EECA standards? / Yes/No
2.  / Is there a functional toilet? / Yes/No
3.  / Are there personal washing facilities? / Yes/No
4.  / Is the storm water drainage to council standards? / Yes/No
5.  / Is the waste water drainage to council standards? / Yes/No
6.  / Is there adequate food preparation and storage areas? / Yes/No
7.  / Is there a functional stovetop and oven? / Yes/No
8.  / Is there a potable water supply (hot and cold)? / Yes/No
9.  / Is there mould and dampness? / Yes/No
10.  / Is there a form of safe and energy efficient heating? / Yes/No
11.  / Do the windows work? / Yes/No
12.  / Have the windows got safety latches/stays? / Yes/No
13.  / Is the house structurally sound? / Yes/No
14.  / Do the bathroom, kitchen and all bedrooms have some form of ventilation to outside? / Yes/No
15.  / Is the house in a reasonable state of repair and weather tightness? / Yes/No
16.  / Does the house have working fire alarms? / Yes/No
17.  / Are the power outlets/light switches safe, functional and in a good state of repair? / Yes/No
18.  / Are there handrails for stairs/outside steps? / Yes/No
19.  / Are the floor coverings safe? / Yes/No
20.  / Is there adequate outdoor lighting near entrance ways? / Yes/No
21.  / Is the water heating set to a safe temperature? / Yes/No
22.  / Do ranch-sliders and low level windows have safety visibility strips? / Yes/No
23.  / Is there secure storage for potential poisons? / Yes/No
24.  / If there is a pool, is it fenced to council standards? / Yes/No
25.  / Do the doors and windows lock? / Yes/No

Table 1. Examples of components assessed by the Healthy Housing Index

Name of scale / Outcome / Examples of components required to pass the HHI / Examples of additional components to gain extra points on a five-point scale
Core modules
Health / Respiratory diseases
Cardiovascular diseases
Infectious diseases linked to enteric transmission / Ceiling and under-floor insulation where possible, installed to EECA standards / Excess heat and cold control
Sanitary areas to include a toilet and personal washing facilities / Control of all indoor pollutants
Storm-water and waste-water drainage to Council Standards / Sound proofing for noise
Adequate food preparation and storage areas / Mechanical ventilation
Water supply (hot and cold)
Adequate control of mould and dampness
Safe and energy efficient heating
Adequate laundry facilities
Working windows for ventilation; to include safety latches/stays
Reasonable state of repair (E.g. doors, windows, walls, roofs)
Safety / Injuries and poisonings / Working fire alarms / High standards of driveway & boundary fencing
All power outlets/ light switches safe, functional and in a good state of repair / Security from intruders
Safety from falls, including handrails for stairs and outside steps / Fire resistant materials & design
Structural soundness / High standards of fall protection
Safe access to house, including structurally sound steps with visibility strips on edges and handrails / High standards of external lighting
Adequate lighting
Water heating set to safe temperature
Ranch-sliders and low level windows to have safety visibility strips
Secure storage for potential poisons
Energy efficiency / Financial and
environmental costs / Ceiling and under-floor insulation where possible, installed to EECA standards / Energy efficient lighting
Safe and energy efficient heating / Sustainable heating
Solar orientation
Thermal mass
Optimal house layout
Heating and cooling systems
Solar water heating
Window efficiency
Possible additional modules for future consideration
Resilience / Injuries from natural hazards / Yet to be developed
Sustainability / Financial costs
Environmental costs
Suitability# / Infectious diseases linked to household crowding

#The suitability module is proposed to provide useful information for occupants on aspects such as the number of rooms (and therefore number of occupants the house can accommodate before it becomes crowded), disability issues (such as wheelchair access), and suitability for children, but it will not form part of the rating system.

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[1] The HHI focuses on building condition rather than the occupants or the way they might live within a house. It provides a measure of how likely it is that occupants will suffer ill health or injuries due to a housing factor(s). Each measure included in the inspection was selected on the basis of previous local and international research, together with expert opinion. In addition each individual element has been validated against respiratory health outcomes, injury claims to ACC and energy consumption.

[2] Although it is based on extensive research, the proposed Housing WoF consists of simple combinations of features that have been shown to be better and more consistent than expert opinion which does not follow an agreed formula. See Daniel Kahneman, Chapter 21, Intuitions vs formulas. In Thinking, fast and slow. London, Penguin Books, 2011.