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Labour's housing spokesman says current regulations are a joke and rogue operators should be closed down

Property
Labour's housing spokesman says current regulations are a joke and rogue operators should be closed down

Labour says it will require boarding houses to be licensed if it is returned to government.

Labour's housing spokesman Phil Twyford says current laws and regulations on boarding house are outdated with no proper set of minimum standards and no agency clearly responsible for enforcement.

He said a parliamentary inquiry on boarding houses heard that some tenants were putting up with unsafe, unsanitary and unhealthy living conditions.

However the Social Services Select Committee had decided no to take the opportunity to clean up the industry, Twyford said.

"Unfortunately the National MPs on the committee refused to take the obvious step of setting up a licensing regime that would see rogue operators denied a licence to operate.

"They were content to wring their hands about the problem, but when it came down to solutions, the best they could do was to ask government agencies to share information and to ask Councils to be more proactive in enforcing standards.

"The next Labour-led government will introduce a positive licensing regime for boarding houses based on a clear set of minimum standards.

"Boarding house operators will have to apply for a licence and rogue operators will be shown the door.

"We will do a thorough legislative review to update the rules and mandate local government responsibility for enforcement," he said.

 

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6 Comments

Yip , close  them down and how are earth will be house the 1000 new migrant arrivals coming here every week after week after week ......

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How about licensing the users of boarding houses and rental houses.I believe that some of them have unhealthy and unsanitary practices.

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Har de har.

Christchurch is a case in point: in effect, the earthquake series flattened or rendered unsafe the stock of old dungers, flop-houses, flea-pits and other housing solutions for this, the lowest end of the market.

So Labours' solution's consequences are already evident: supply practically non-existent, prices through the roof, a semi-permanent population of homeless types living rough in places like the old saleyards on Deans Ave, and no doubt, increased mortality and sickness.

Like the Housing WOF, it will decrease supply, feed a new army of bureaucrats with an ever-expanding checklist ('wot, no energy-saving LED lights? Can't check That box. Sorry. No license.'), increase costs and thus inexorably rents, and generally fubar yet another small slice of the economy.

Hey-ho.....

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So, let me see if I get this.

 

Your argument against regulation of the housing rental sector is that every country needs some slum landlords .. is that right?

 

 

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Well, sign up to some really hefty tax and rates increases if'n yer wants to avoid this, because the lowest rung of tenants has extensive and expensive needs:  I used to live amongst them in Central Christchurch for a decade, and I know.......and the private sector don't run on charity, so, sorry, K, it's OPM all the way down.

 

Your money...

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Yes, the same OPM that housed our very own Prime Minister when his family needed it.

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