Te ahu ki ngā kāinga oranga: Te Tohu Hauora (WoF) mō ngā whare rēti
Monday 26 February 2018
Are you aware that substandard housing is a major public health issue in New Zealand, with poor quality housing contributing to ill health and increased injury rates? We know that around two-thirds of our dwellings are uninsulated and most are inadequately heated. A lack of regulation and enforcement has lead to rental housing being in worse condition than owner-occupied housing; this is of great concern as there has been a rapid rise in the number of people renting.
After a decade of research the University of Otago developed the rental WoF in conjunction with the Green Building Council and ACC. The rental WoF was recently introduced by the Wellington City Council. The rental WoF sets minimum standards for health and safety for all residential rental properties.
David Ormandy, a Professor at the Warwick Medical School, will give an overview of what the United Kingdom and Wales have done to improve their housing quality. He will be joined by local researchers who will outline housing research in New Zealand and the barriers to improving housing quality.
Topics covered
- Overview of housing quality in NZ.
- Health problems associated with poor quality housing.
- How to improve housing quality.
- The way forward.
Style of course
Symposium - Multi-speaker presentations in lecture theatre setting.
Who should attend?
This course is suited to anyone who wants to be right up to date with what is happening to improve housing quality. Those people studying or working in housing improvement (assessors, builders, installers of insulation/heating), government departments with housing and or health responsibilities, policy will find it of use.
By the end of this course participants should have the knowledge about:
- The unique quality issues that New Zealand housing faces.
- The health and injury burden associated with poor quality homes.
- What has been done to improve housing quality overseas.
- What can be done to improve housing in New Zealand.
- What is the way forward……………..
Draft timetable
| Time | Session |
|---|---|
| 8:30am | Registration |
| 9am | Session 1: Overview of housing quality in NZ Setting the scene: Housing issues facing NZ - Prof. Philippa Howden-Chapman Questions |
| 10:30am | Morning tea |
| 11am | Session 2: Health problems associated with poor quality housing Housing quality and children’s hospital admissions - Dr. Nevil Pierse Questions |
| 12:30pm | Lunch break |
| 1:30pm | Session 3: How to improve housing quality HHSRS – the UK experience - Prof. David Ormandy Questions |
| 3pm | Afternoon tea |
| 3:30pm | Session 4: The way forward Central government, MBIE experiences with enforcement of Insulation Regulations - Mr. Paul Davies Panel discussion |
| 5pm | Finish -Drinks and nibbles |
Teaching staff
Prof. Philippa Howden-Chapman - University of Otago, Wellington. Philippa is a professor of public health at the University of Otago, Wellington, New Zealand, where she teaches public policy. She is director of He Kainga Oranga/ Housing and Health Research Programme and the New Zealand Centre for Sustainable Cities. She has conducted randomised community housing trials in partnership with local communities, which have had a major influence on housing, health and energy policy. She has a strong interest in reducing inequalities in the determinants of health and has published widely in this area, receiving a number of awards for her work including the Prime Minister’s Science Prize in 2014. She is currently the chair of the WHO Housing and Health Guideline Development Group and was a member of the Children’s Commissioner’s Expert Advisory Group on Solutions to Child Poverty. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand
Ms. Vicki White - Building Research Association of New Zealand (BRANZ). Vicki is an author of the 2015 BRANZ House Condition Survey. The analysis focuses on comparing house condition between the two tenures (owner-occupied and rented). The BRANZ House Condition Survey (HCS) provides a snapshot of the state of New Zealand housing at a point in time
Assoc. Prof. Michael Keall - University of Otago, Wellington. Michael is an injury epidemiologist who has been working for the University of Otago, Wellington since 2006. He is currently leading the Home Injury Prevention Intervention, a major randomised controlled trial funded by the NZ Health Research Council that is looking at the effectiveness of repairs to home injury hazards as a means to reduce home injury. He is a principal investigator in two major research programmes hosted by the University of Otago, Wellington - He Kainga Oranga and the New Zealand Centre for Sustainable Cities.
Ms Graciela Rivera-Munoz - University of Otago, Wellington. Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Graciela has a background in political sciences and public health education. Graciela has a research focus on the role of communities in public health practice and in the development, implementation, and evaluation of public policy in a broader sense. Currently, she is engaged in a qualitative case study of housing recovery after the Canterbury Earthquakes of 2010-2011 and the development of a critical theoretical perspective on the concept of community, neighbourhood, and suburb resilience, as a main-stay of the disaster literature.
Dr. Nevil Pierse - University of Otago, Wellington. Nevil is deputy director of He Kainga Oranga/Housing and Health Research Programme. Originally a statistician by training, his current work is done in partnership with a wide variety of stakeholders including government and community organisations, and is focused on the design and implementation of randomised trials in the home and community.
Prof. Michael Baker - University of Otago, Wellington. Michael is a public health physician and professor in the Department of Public Health at the University of Otago, Wellington. He is a co-director of the Housing and Health Research Programme/He Kainga Oranga and director of the Health Environment & Infection Research Unit (HEIRU). Micahel has a strong research interest in infectious diseases, environmental health and health determinants. He has researched major infectious diseases of childhood, such as meningococcal disease and rheumatic fever, and the effects of poor housing conditions, notably household crowding.
Dr. Lucy Telfar-Barnard - University of Otago, Wellington. Lucy's research interests cover seasonal and cold-temperature-related morbidity and mortality; respiratory disease; tenancy law and the regulation of rental housing quality; New Zealand housing construction types, their distribution, classification and associated health outcomes; and novel epidemiological uses of administrative datasets. She is currently measuring New Zealand’s respiratory disease burden, and assessing the effect of mechanized home ventilation systems on health outcomes
Dr. Caroline Shorter - University of Otago, Wellington.
Prof. David Ormandy - Warwick Medical School, United Kingdom. Currently, member of the World Health Organization Working Group developing Healthy Housing Guidelines. Member of the Working Group for the National Healthy Housing Standard, published in 2015 by the American Public Health Association and the National Center for Healthy Housing. In 2012, advisor to the Building Research Establishment (BRE) on a project to develop a methodology to compare the one-off cost of mitigating housing hazards with the estimated annual cost saving to the health sector in England - Real Cost of Poor Housing. Also advisor to BRE on production of a Guide and an Assessment Protocol on Overheating in Dwellings published in 2015. From 1992 to 1998, involved in studies for UK government into controls on minimum standards in housing and the health impact of housing conditions. Responsible to the UK government for the projects to develop the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS), which was adopted as the statutory method for assessing housing conditions in England and Wales in 2006. Developed training courses for local authority officers on the use of the HHSRS.
Dr. Julie Bennett - University of Otago, Wellington. Julie is a Research Fellow for the Housing and Health Research Programme at the University of Otago, Wellington. She has worked and done research in the field of public health in a range of roles. Her research interests include reducing inequalities, air pollution, respiratory health and housing.
Ms. Carolyn Dick - Senior Advisor Policy, Wellington City Council.
Mr Paul Davies - Senior Operations Advisor, Tenancy Compliance and Investigations, Housing and Tenancy Services, Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE). Paul joined MBIE in June 2011 as a Tenancy Advisor before moving into the Compliance area in early 2013. His current role has him not only at the coal face of the renting experience, but also involved in the conversations that are shaping the future of tenancy legislation. Paul’s practical and institutional knowledge of the RTA coupled with his involvement in the industry since 1987 gives him a fantastic ‘360 degree view’ of the tenancy relationship.
Mr. Robert Whitaker - Renters United. Robert is a spokesperson for Renters United, who believe in the rights of renters to live in safe and healthy homes, pay affordable rents, be able to find a rental home free from discrimination, intimidation and harassment, expect respective and responsive relationships with tenants and landlords, and have long-term security and stability of rental agreements.
Course cost and registration
$300 early bird, $400 after 20 December 2017.
A 50% discount is available to full-time students, those unwaged and University of Otago staff.
