He Kainga Oranga/Housing and Health Research Programme based at the University of Otago, Wellington, has been funded by the Health Research Council of New Zealand to study the effects of introducing a rental housing WoF. A rental WoF would require basic standards for things like ventilation, heating, safety and hygiene in a rental property.
He Kainga Oranga will measure how a WoF affects the rental market and tenant health in Wellington and Dunedin, compared with control cities Lower Hutt and Invercargill, which are not planning to introduce a rental WOF at this stage.
He Kainga Oranga is planning to complete the research in time to inform government policy before insulation and smoke alarms become mandatory for all rentals in 2019.
