The government's healthy homes standards are meant to raise the quality of over half a million rental properties. But tracking compliance is subpar – and that's undermining democracy, says the chief human rights commissioner. Living in a warm, dry and healthy home is as much a human right as the presumption of innocence or freedom of expression, says chief human rights commissioner of New Zealand Paul Hunt. But if there's no one around to ensure their upkeep, 'our democracy has gone wrong … If people are not having their human rights respected, that doesn't lead to social cohesion – just the opposite … At the moment, we don't have an accountable right to a decent home.

https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/29-09-2022/new-zealands-poor-housing-a-failure-of-our-democracy

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