6. Question No. 6—HousingCHLÖE SWARBRICK (Green—Auckland Central) to the Minister of HousingQuestion No. 6—Housing6. CHLÖE SWARBRICK (Green—Auckland Central) to the Minister of Housing: Is she confident that the homes of the 1.4 million New Zealanders who rent are healthy and well managed?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS (Minister of Housing): Over our five years in Government we have made good progress in improving standards for renters but we know there is still work to do. We introduced the healthy homes standard in 2017. As of October 2021 surveys indicate that around 85 percent of private landlords report that they have met the standard or have begun the work required to meet the healthy homes standard. Likewise 84 percent of Kāinga Ora tenancies either meet the standards or have work in progress to meet them and Kāinga Ora are now upgrading 600 homes a week.Chlöe Swarbrick: Why then does the Government not have a verifiable central repository of data on compliance on private rentals with the healthy homes standards?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: There is a number of streams of work under way around compliance with the healthy homes standards. There is at the moment due to finish in November of this year another survey that is in the field that will be reported to Government around both tenant and landlord uptake. We also in Budget 2021 allocated nearly $16 million over four years for implementation that included compliance and monitoring. There was an increase of investigations and assessments from 2000 to 3000 per annum a greater level of compliance with the standards through employing an additional 14 compliance and investigation personnel increasing the capacity for proactive monitoring and enforcement activity. There was data analysis and intelligence work to ensure that interventions are targeted at the highest risk areas so we can look at minimising harm in those areas. We're also supporting the most vulnerable tenants to take action against non-compliance and providing information and education to the residential tenancy sector to raise awareness of compliance.Chlöe Swarbrick: Has she seen reports from inspection companies that professionally managed rental properties had higher levels of compliance with healthy homes standards while independent landlords had lower levels of compliance and if so doesn't that suggest that private landlords should also be registered and regulated like she announced for property managers today?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: The changes that we made around the moves that our Government is making to finally regulate property managers in the legislation that will be debated in this House do not apply to individual landlords for the very simple reason that the advice that I have is that individual landlords are regulated through the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA). But what I have made very clear to the sector is that this is a particular area of interest that I would like the select committee to look at very closely to see if there is a case for broadening it. But the advice I have at the moment is that it is not required because the RTA does that.Chlöe Swarbrick: Did the Government then consider including private landlords who manage 60 percent of private rental properties in this country in its proposed property manager register which closed to public consultation nine months ago and if so why did it decide against it?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: I think I covered off the answer to that question in the previous answer that I gave that this is something that was canvassed—of course it was—that we are a Government that has a programme of work for the first time to improve the lot of renters in this country that the advice that we had is that this was not required because individual landlords are regulated under the Residential Tenancies Act. And as I also said in the answer to the last question this is a question that I would like the select committee to spend some time considering.Ricardo Menéndez March: How many Kāinga Ora tenants is the Government comfortable with getting sick due to living in cold damp unhealthy homes as a result of the extension of the healthy homes standards compliance?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: We are a Government that is only tolerant of zero percent of Kāinga Ora tenants living in cold damp homes. That is why we are a Government that not only has the largest State house build in a generation but we are a Government that has committed to not only meeting the healthy homes standards but have invested a significant amount of money in the refurbishment of our current stock. Unlike the previous Government I'd like to add who instead of doing that took out half a billion dollars in dividends from the then Housing New Zealand.Chlöe Swarbrick: Will the Government reverse the burden of proof of compliance and implement a warrant of fitness which would cover all rental properties and resolve issues with healthy homes standards data compliance and enforcement; if not why not?Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS: Through the course of developing this legislation a warrant of fitness was considered. The cost-benefit analysis showed that minimum standards were the more effective tool. So the reason we won't be is because the advice we have is that they are the more effective tool. I would like to point out to that member that the tenancy compliance and investigation team (TCIT) at the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment undertakes both proactive assessments and reactive investigations in regard to compliance. Since 1 July 2021 the TCIT have investigated 416 cases where breaches of the healthy homes standard were alleged; 88 percent of those investigations were proactive assessments while 12 percent were in response to a tenant complaint and breaches of the standard were confirmed in 34 percent of those cases. We are proactively making sure that landlords comply with the standard.