New paper: Being forced to leave your rental home can harm health

Elinor Chisholm, Sarah Bierre, Cheryl Davies, Philippa Howden-Chapman* [This is a repost from Public Health Expert Blog on 14 June 2022 – thank you to the editors. ] Eviction, or a forced move from rental housing, is a common experience for New Zealand renters, yet we know very little about its effects. In this blog…More

New paper: Promoting health through housing improvements, education and advocacy: Lessons from staff involved in Wellington’s Healthy Housing Initiative

We know that poor housing conditions result in ill health for many New Zealanders, and we know which interventions are required to ensure good quality housing that supports health. Healthy Housing Initiatives intervene to improve the homes of kids who are hospitalised for illnesses that could be related to poor housing conditions. Some colleagues and…More

Should landlords pay a bond to cover maintenance?

There’s a major problem with maintenance in New Zealand rental housing. Independent assessors of a representative sample of New Zealand housing found that 32% of rental housing was poorly maintained (Buckett et al. 2017:26). Research recently published by Auckland Council, and based on interviews with Auckland property managers, showed that a major challenge in working…More

Renter activism in New Zealand, 1916-2016

Republished with permission from the Labour History Project Bulletin. Life isn’t good for many people who rent their home: renters move often; problems of cold and damp housing are widespread; low income households are often crowded; and many people spend more than half their income on rent.[1] Poor quality housing, crowding, and a lack of…More