Healthy Homes Guarantee Bill Passes its 3rd Reading
15 December 2017
As the government’s initiative to protect its citizens, the Healthy Homes Guarantee bill has passed its third and final Parliament reading on Thursday. Although the bill was rejected by 57 members, a majority of 63 members did approve it. Consequently, the bill shall become law.
The bill stipulates many conditions to which investors in the real estate industry should adhere before renting out houses to tenants. The conditions include the following:
- Presence of a modern heating source or system. According to Phil Twyford, the head of the Housing Ministry, “It is not ‘ok’ to rent houses that expose the dwellers to a health risk.” The minister maintains that it isn’t “ok” for landlords to make millions of dollars while renting out properties that impose risks to the tenants.
- Moreover, properties must meet the minimum standards of ventilation, insulation, and moisture control.
According to the ministry, tenants often fail to express their dissatisfactions even when they live in houses that are cold and damp. Tenants may be reluctant to complain out of fear of retribution from the house owners, who could kick out the tenants. Therefore, to bring an end to this, the standards are likely to be enforced within the next 18 months.
Among the 57 who opposed the bill was Mr. Smith, who was in charge of building regulation in the preceding national administration. He maintained that the provisions were already in existence; Parliament was simply unaware of the specifics of the provisions because the standards were not yet specified. He stated, “This bill does diddly-squat,” and compared its shallowness to that of a bird bath.
To discover more details about the housing health and safety bill and the requirements that you must comply with, please click the link below.
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