There are calls for a rental warrant of fitness to ensure student flats in North Dunedin are actually complying with Healthy Homes Standards.
Since July 1, the standards set out minimum requirements for heating, insulation, ventilation, moisture and drainage – and all rental properties are supposed to be up to scratch.
But some students at Otago University say their flats are not only in appalling condition but issues like mould are making them sick.
They say some landlords carry out the healthy homes checks themselves – and the Otago University Association said this was a big part of the problem.
Second year University of Otago students Emerson Shaw and Mackenzie Barnett live in a flat on North Dunedin’s Dundas St.
They pay $195 each month on rent but say the flat is mouldy and poorly ventilated.
“Our bathroom in there … has the washing machine and dryer in it, it’s got no ventilation and so every single night when the dryer is on, like we honestly probably need to start taking our toilet paper out of there at night because like everything, the walls, you’re walking in there and it’s just wet.
“The toilet paper gets wet because there’s so much moisture.”
Shaw said her landlord showed her the flat’s Healthy Homes Standards compliance statement, but Shaw said the last time it was ticked off was in 2020.
They paid $95 each a month on power and gas, but they studied until late at university because it was too cold to go home, she said.
Shaw said she wiped mould from windowsills every day and the ceilings and curtains were coated in the stuff.
“I had to throw out my rubbish bin and my washing basket a couple of weeks ago because [it was] one of those wooden kind of weaved ones, it was completely covered in mould for being in my bedroom.
“The whole thing was like a fluffy green cover of mould.”
Student misses exams as mould making her sick
A group of third year students said the situation wasn’t any better at their flat on Queen St.
One of the flatmates who did not want to be named said she had missed her mid-term exams because the mould in her flat had been making her sick.
“It’s terrible, I’ve been sick for like, six weeks, and I feel like I’m just not getting any better because of it.”
A group of fifth year flatmates on Constitution St, who did not want to be named, said they were paying $204 each a week, but the price did not reflect the condition of the flat.
Mould was a problem, they said. It was growing in each of their rooms and on their furniture. They had had to throw out clothes and shoes.
They did not think their flat complied with the Healthy Homes Standards.
“It’s like a form that he showed us. He ticked it all off himself. It was very rushed, he just said ‘here’s this, OK next part.’ We actually don’t know what that means.”
Although their flat this year had issues, they said they would take what they could get because they had lived in worse.
“My parents first year moved me down to my flat on Hyde St and my mum cried because she didn’t believe what I was meant to be living in.”
Rental WOF would give tenants piece of mind – OUSA
University of Otago vice chancellor Grant Robertson said living in a cold and damp flat should not be a rite of passage for students.
“I hear from people of my own generation who were students here saying ‘oh well, we all lived in cold flats, and so be it’. That’s not good enough, people are paying rent.
“We’ve got much better written standards now than we had 30 years ago when I was a student. It shouldn’t be the case that people feel they have to live in a cold, damp flat.”
Otago University Students’ Association (OUSA) president Liam White said a rental warrant of fitness would give tenants peace of mind, as they would be guaranteed a warm and dry flat.
“I can’t see any solution other than a Rental WOF, even if it is a green sticker on the door that says ‘yep, this flat is good to go’.
“Or if it’s just a black sticker that says, well, we’re not totally sure about this flat, it’s Healthy Homes compliant. You can still rent it, but it doesn’t meet this extra standard that landlords should make.”
White said OUSA was advocating for the Dunedin City Council to have their own Healthy Homes standards compliance officers.
In May this year, the Tenancy Services Healthy Homes Compliance Team assessed a number of flats across North Dunedin.
White attended the team’s inspection, he said most flats were not complying with the standards.
“I had a mate come back, he did an OE and when he was here we both complained about flats all the time. Then he left and he came back and said, ‘you know what? But I’m glad I did it. It was such a great rite of passage’. I said, ‘dude, do you remember when you got so sick, your brain swelled?’
“I think there’s this great perception there’s this rite of passage, but I don’t think there needs to be.”
Brett Wilson from the Tenancy Services Tenancy Compliance and Investigations Team which operates within the Ministry of Business Innovation and Enterprise said he encouraged students to check Healthy Homes Standards compliance statements when visiting a property.
Wilson said after signing a lease if there were issues with the property, it was important to raise them as soon as possible.
For landlords, if they were getting a Healthy Homes inspection through a company, he encouraged them to research the company and its reviews.
He said there needed to be open communication between tenants and landlords, and proactive maintenance to ensure properties continued to meet the standards.
By Bella Craig of rnz.co.nz
