University of Otago He Kainga Oranga: Housing and Health Research Programme senior research fellow Lucy Telfar-Barnard said she thought the set of Healthy Homes Standards announced on Sunday was a step in the right direction and had significant economic benefits - as long as they were enforced.
"The proposals that have been put forward will come together to make the home warmer and drier and that in turn will keep people out of hospital, and prevent some deaths,'' she said.
"For too long our rentals have been allowed to be substandard. It's a first step to bringing them up to a basic habitable standard.''
Housing Minister Phil Twyford has said data from the Ministry of Health shows 6000 children were admitted to hospital each year in "housing-sensitive hospitalisations''.
The new standards include having a heater in the living room and extractor fans in the kitchen and bathroom, as well as appropriate ventilation and draught stopping.
Ceiling insulation must either meet the 2008 Building Code or have a minimum thickness of 120mm.
Dr Telfar-Barnard's praise of the Government's plans comes after a study from the Motu Economic and Public Policy Research Institute with the Housing and Health Research Programme found ACC claims and hospitalisation costs from preventable injuries, and hospitalisations due to poor housing conditions, was costing the health system $145million a year.
Both rental and other properties were included in the research, which was released yesterday.
However, the study found statistics were worse the lower the income of the household, and rental properties were most problematic.
Being able to heat living rooms to at least 18degC would have positive flow-on effects, such as less mould, and therefore less asthma, Dr Telfar-Barnard said.
New insulation rules could make a significant economic difference - another study Dr Telfar-Barnard was involved in found insulation retrofits alone had a cost-benefit ratio of six-to-one.
The standards need to be approved by Cabinet and are expected to be made law in mid-2019. All rental homes must comply with the standards by July 2024.
From July 2021 onwards, private landlords need to ensure their property complies within 90 days of any new tenancy.
Dr Telfar-Barnard said injuries in the home were the next big thing that had to be tackled, as ACC shelled out "high costs'' for things that could be prevented.
