Measuring the Effect of Housing Quality Interventions: The Case of the New Zealand “Rental Warrant of Fitness.”

Details

• Personal Author:
  Baker MG ; Bennett J ; Cutler-Welsh M ; Howden-Chapman P ; Jacobs DE ; Keall M ; Ormandy D ; Preval N ; Telfar-Barnard L
• Description:
  In New Zealand, as in many other countries, housing in the private-rental sector is in worse condition than in the owner-occupier housing sector. New Zealand residential buildings have no inspection regime after original construction signoff. Laws and regulations mandating standards for existing residential housing are outdated and spread over a range of instruments. Policies to improve standards in existing housing have been notoriously difficult to implement. In this methods paper, we describe the development and implementation of a rental Warrant of Fitness (WoF) intended to address these problems. Dwellings must pass each of 29 criteria for habitability, insulation, heating, ventilation, safety, amenities, and basic structural soundness to reach the WoF minimum standard. The WoF's development was based on two decades of research on the impact of housing quality on health and wellbeing, and strongly influenced by the UK Housing Health and Safety Rating System and US federal government housing standards. Criteria were field-tested across a range of dwelling types and sizes, cities, and climate zones. The implementation stage of our WoF research consists of a non-random controlled quasi-experimental study in which we work with two city-level local government councils to implement the rental WoF, recruiting adjoining council areas as controls, and measuring changes in health, economic, and social outcomes. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Construction Industry Construction Materials Economics Occupational Health Public Health Quality Control Safety Ventilation
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Housing Quality Building Ventilation Climatic Conditions Construction Construction Industry Construction Materials Economic Evaluation Health Health Protection Heating Systems Home Health And Safety Housing Assessment Housing Standards Humans Indoor Environments Insulation Materials Policy Public Health Quality Control Quality Standards Regulations Socioeconomics Sociological Factors Standards Structural Analysis Structural Design Tenure

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• ISSN:
  1660-4601
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Illinois ; Maryland ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  14
• Issue:
  11
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20051379
• Citation:
  Int J Environ Res Public Health 2017 Nov; 14(11):1352
• Contact Point Address:
  Lucy Telfar-Barnard, Department of Public Health, University of Otago, Wellington 6021, New Zealand
• Email:
  lucy.telfar-barnard@otago.ac.nz
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2018
• Performing Organization:
  University of Illinois at Chicago
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
• End Date:
  20290630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:aece9b5f249f14b5430448326ca156d9447c64a0d5af1feff01354dbc57e315c4b7a7877a7ccec5768899aedda11c89bb230e5e233a69a7db005ff9b8ed1cd60
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/211368/cdc_211368_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 643.97 KB ]