Christchurch City Council has 11 months to check insulation on more properties than it has in three years

Sunday, 26 August 2018

The Christchurch City Council has less than a year to check and potentially insulate more properties than it has assessed in the last three years. If it fails, it could be fined up to $4000 for each. (File photo)

The Christchurch City Council (CCC) has less than a year to assess and potentially insulate 725 social housing properties.

If it fails to reach a July 1, 2019 deadline it could face fines of up to $4000 per property.

The council has assessed 1675 of its 2400 units and would have to check and potentially remedy about 3.5 every working day until next July to meet the standard. So far, about half of the properties assessed have required insulation work.

In 2015 the council said 1045 units were already sufficiently insulated.

* Council flats landlord ordered to repay tenants after overcharging for 'dated' one-bedroom unit**

The council has fallen well behind other centres including Wellington City Council, which has 86 units out of 2091 left to assess. Auckland, which owned 1452 units, and Dunedin, which had 940, have both finished.

According to figures provided earlier this month, 440 CCC units were exempt from insulation. Of those, 112 were unable to be insulated because of skillion ceilings – the same situation Pickering Courts, St Albans resident Lynda McKenzie was told she was in before she hired a contractor to cut a manhole and install insulation herself.

Christchurch City Council corporate services general manager Anne Columbus said all units deemed unable to be insulated will be re-assessed to see what other improvements can be made.

'We plan to review the exempt units once all 2400 have been assessed and see if there are any other actions that can be taken [to improve the properties],' CCC corporate services general manager Anne Columbus said.

CCC has identified 'several problems' with McKenzie's insulation and she faces the prospect of it being removed.

Social housing providers charging tenants income-related rent – where weekly payments are a percentage of that person's income – had until July 2016 to have their housing units up to standard.

The council does not have tenants on income-related rent, and must instead meet the 2019 deadline for all rental property owners.

However, in 2016 the Ōtautahi Community Housing Trust (OCHT) took over management of the city council's social housing properties, and a number now have income-related rent agreements.

The council was unable to say how many, if any, of the trust's flats had been assessed or required work to comply with current standards. If any did not, Ōtautahi* as the landlord would be breaking the law, according to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE).

MBIE tenancy compliance and investigations national manager Steve Watson said councils that did not comply with the new standards could be charged 'exemplary damages' if ordered by the Tenancy Tribunal. These would usually be paid to the tenant.

'Landlords who have more than one tenancy may face separate damages for each property that doesn't comply,' Watson said.

'They will then still need to install insulation that meets the correct standard. Any landlords who still don't comply after paying the penalty may face further action.'

Pickering Courts resident Lynda McKenzie's unit was one of 440 said to be unable to be insulated. She got it done herself but 'several problems' could mean it's removed.

Christchurch city councillor Glenn Livingstone, who is deputy chairman of its Social, Community Development and Housing Committee, said he was 'reasonably confident' in the council's ability to meet next year's deadline.

'We just need to keep pushing on it,' he said.

'With skillion ceilings we could create a false ceiling and put insulation in there.'

All Dunedin City Council's (DCC) units 940 were assessed before 2016 and have been insulated or re-insulated up to EECA standards, where possible, in the past eight years, housing manager Alana Reid said.

'Only a small number, fewer than 50 units, have some older roof insulation which is unable to be renewed…213 have concrete floors that are unable to be insulated.'

A Wellington City Council spokeswoman said 86 of its 2091 social housing properties were yet to be assessed, and 580 were exempt.

'This is mainly because of the physical make up of these units with many being middle level apartments, where there are other apartments above and below them, or apartments with a flat roof.'

Auckland City Council's social housing was managed by a separate trust, Haumaru Housing. Its chief executive, Gabby Clezy, said all properties were insulated to current standards except those where the building design did not allow it.

She said she did not 'understand the purpose' of providing the number of exempt properties and did not do so before deadline.

* An earlier version of this story said it would be the council found to be in breach of the law. However, while the council owns the properties, Ōtautahi is the liable landlord.

BY THE NUMBERS:

Auckland City Council

Owned: 1452

Assessed: 1452

Exempt: unknown

Assessed, work required: none

Wellington City Council

Owned: 2091

Assessed: 2005

Exempt: about 580

Assessed, work required: 180

Dunedin City Council

Owned: 940

Assessed: 940

Exempt: 263

Assessed, work required: none

Christchurch City Council

Owned: 2400

Assessed: 1675

Exempt: 440

Assessed, work required: 25