With rents on the rise, University of Otago Students' Association (OUSA) is backing the Human Rights Commission’s call for policy improvements, including a housing watchdog.
OUSA president Quintin Jane said students were less willing to tolerate shoddy living conditions when rents in student-dominant areas of Dunedin had climbed by $15 to $20 per bedroom last year.
The stereotype of a poor-quality flat was still true, he said.
He knew of flats with leaks, flats where ceilings had collapsed, and flats where mould was so pervasive it was a serious health hazard.
"Students absolutely without a doubt raise this as an issue, I’d say more than ever before."
"When you’re paying nearly $200 a room you start to question why your room is little more than a glorified cardboard box."
As rents increased and people rented for longer periods of their lives, housing should be considered a human right, he said.
The current system meant healthy homes legislation was weakly enforced, and tenants wanting to advocate for their rights had to be confrontational with their landlord, or go through the long, intense tenancy tribunal process.
"The current rental market in North Dunedin and student-dominated areas is set up in a way that puts all the power in the hands of landlords and property managers, and is in desperate need of regulatory oversight by the likes of a housing ombudsman."
This follows the results of a two-year inquiry carried out by the commission, released in a report last week.
The report — which acknowledged the contribution of the New Zealand Union of Students’ Associations, among other groups — said despite advances, there was an "urgent housing crisis" that the United Nations had previously called on the country to address.
Houses were more expensive, and there was a shortfall in accessible housing.
Many houses — especially rental properties — were at risk of making people sick due to mould and dampness.
Young people, refugee and migrant families, Māori, Pasifika, single parents, elderly and disabled people were disproportionately affected.
Successive governments had agreed to binding international treaties recognising the right to decent housing, and had the legal obligation to carry this through, the report said.
The commission wanted to see legal recognition of that right within domestic law, as well as better accountability systems to hold the Government to account.
"This could look like a housing ombudsman or commissioner alongside an independent Māori housing authority."
University of Otago Department of Public Health research fellow Jenny Ombler said the commission had done a good job of giving policy makers and communities a framework to move forwards.
Unaffordable, transitional and student housing were all issues in Otago, she said.
Students living in shoddy housing, especially in Dunedin, was still seen as a rite of passage, and this needed to change.
"Students deserve to live in warm, safe, dry, affordable homes."
There were currently 5000 people in transitional housing nationally, but did not fulfil the right to an adequate home because there was no security of tenure, as well as being outside of healthy homes standards, she said.
"I’d love to see a shift away from that transitional housing kind of mindset, and operational emphasis — I would have loved the Human Rights Commission to be a little more critical of that approach, but I think the overarching recommendations are really positive."
