Dunedin university students are being told they should know their rights when it comes to renting flats. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
Dunedin university students are being reminded run-down flats are not just a part of university life as the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment inspects rentals in the southern city this week.
The Tenancy Compliance and Investigations Team would be checking that landlords were not offering damp, run-down rentals with healthy home standards coming into force from July.
Acting national manager Clare Lyons-Montgomery said the team wanted to change the perception living in a run-down student flat was a rite of passage, and to ensure students knew their rights.
"Young people are a priority population for our team, as they can be vulnerable and unaware of their rights because they are new to renting," she said.
"We want to make it clear to landlords what their responsibilities are and what the consequences of non-compliance are."
Landlords must provide warm, safe, dry, well-maintained rentals that complied with all building, health and safety, and tenancy rules, Lyons-Montgomery said.
Otago University Students Association president Liam White backed the ministry's flat inspections and hoped it held landlords who were not following the rules to account.
Many students were forced to live in cold, old, and mouldy flats and not speak out due to fear they would jeopardise future references or create more problems for themselves, he said.
"Even when they do speak up, many face radio silence or endless delays. Otago students deserve better. Warm, healthy homes aren't optional - they're the legal minimum."
The healthy homes standards - which became law in 2019 - introduced a new benchmark for heating, insulation, ventilation, moisture barriers and drainage, and draught stopping in rental properties.
Clare Lyons-Montgomery said the ministry regularly engaged with student associations.
"This visit is another opportunity to encourage them to speak with their landlords about issues in their rental homes and then if they cannot resolve issues between themselves they can speak with us," she said.
Tenants who thought their rental property was not up to scratch should speak to their landlord, and should write to them or issue a 14-day notice if they were not satisfied with the response.
Tenants could make a complaint on the Tenancy Services website or apply to the Tenancy Tribunal to make a decision on the dispute if the landlord did not fix the issue or satisfy their concerns.
