Rental-Insights-A-COVID-19-Collection - Flipbook - Page 34
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RENTAL INSIGHTS:
UNHEALTHY HOUSING
UNHEALTHY HOUSING
Kerry London
Torrens University Australia
Renovating substandard
rental
XXX housing
XXX
Key findings
Why is it important?
Who is most affected?
High rates of cold,
mould and damp
in rented properties
point to failures in
Australia’s standards
for construction and
regulation of the
rental sector.
The pandemic is also highlighting how
critical the design and construction of
our homes has become for our physical
and mental health. There is legislation
that governs minimum standards for
rental properties in each state. Are
minimum standards acceptable though?
Who assesses and who governs
minimum standards? Clearly the system
is not working. The survey also indicated
the relationship between quality of living
environment and mental health.
The most obvious answer to this
is those Australians who live in
substandard rental housing. However,
if we reframe the problem to look at the
entire sector then there are numerous
people affected. The supply of rental
housing and the renovation of rental
homes has multiple actors who would
need to be mobilised to address
this problem.
A vast number of rental properties are
in dire need of renovations to make
them safe, dry, habitable, warm and
healthy. As we go forward, we also
need to rethink our approach to the
renovation of rental homes. Landlords
of substandard rental properties rarely
care whether the design of homes are
the havens that people need. The home
has become a work environment, a
place for leisure and home- schooling.
We eat, sleep, work and play all within
very small inflexible spaces. In the
future we should be concerned about
designing for flexibility and different
activities taking place in the same
space either simultaneously or at
different times. Never has the attention
to how we design these important
spaces been more critical to our
health and wellbeing. It is not just
about the minimum anymore; it is
about maximising what we have.
Reframing the problem will involve
occupants, architects, certifiers, housing
contractors and subcontractors, rental
boards, landlords, Councils, lending
institutions and funding agencies.
A vast number of
rental properties
are in dire need
of renovations to
make them safe,
dry, habitable,
warm and healthy.
