LEGAL LOWDOWN
NEWSLETTER #12 June 2014
TRIAL PROPERTY WARRANT OF FITNESS Earlier this year our Legal Lowdown included an article regarding Warrants of Fitness (“WOF�) of rental properties in New Zealand. The New Zealand Herald reported in May 2014 that, of the 144 properties included in the trial WOF tests, 94% of those inspected failed to pass. The inspection consisted of a 31 category test which looked at weathertightness, insulation and ventilation, lighting, heating, condition of appliances and general building safety. The average inspection time per property was 51 minutes.
RENTAL PROPERTIES FAIL TRIAL WARRANT OF FITNESS
Law reform
2
We take a look at the proposed changes to laws surrounding victims of crime.
Events
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We outline some of the events we attend and provided this month.
It is recorded that the top five failed criteria of the WOF inspections were: 40 per cent of houses did not pass the water temperature check. 30 per cent of bedrooms did not have a working smoke alarm within 3 meters of the bedroom. 31 per cent of houses lacked code-compliant handrails and balustrades. 37 per cent of houses did not pass the check for having a fixed form of heating. 38 per cent of houses did not pass the security stays check.
Updates
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A snippet of some of our free legal education sessions running next month and some legal updates you should know about.
The results of this initial series of trial inspections will be analysed by a special steering group which has been set up to investigate ways in which the WOF process can be refined before it can be applied more broadly throughout New Zealand. We will be sure to provide any updates to the rental property WOF process as they are made available. Source: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/ article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11255312&ref =NZH_FBpage
THANK YOU to all our student volunteers. Your services to Community Law are greatly appreciated!