It’s a brisk southerly in Wellington today. Aren’t you lucky you don’t live in a draughty, damp rented house or flat?
Only the most imbecilic politician would not understand that such housing has a huge influence on the health of those who have to live in it. I am prepared to acknowledge that not many, if any, politicians fit this category and most would recognise that housing is crucial to the health and well-being of people.
So why has some effective action not been taken over privately owned rented accommodation?
The publicly owned housing stock has been improving slowly over recent years, but private owners still have significant perks and in particular, no tax on the capital gain they make when they sell a house.
The Wellington Medical Students are emphasising the need for action in the Operation: Housing they have on this Saturday, August 23 at 1 to 2 pm in Cuba St. They are planning to operate on a model of a crappy house. Oh that they could operate on all the crappy houses in our cities.
I hope they will get their point across and have a number of politicians and prospective politicians there to explain the lack of action in this area.