Candidate Raveen Annamalai answers Renters United’s questions

VOTE HOUSING: LOCAL BODY 2022

Renters United asked every candidate in the Takapū/Northern Ward 17 questions about the issues that most concern renters in their ward. Here are Raveen Annamalai’s responses in full.

Rapid fire questions

Are you a renter? Yes
Do you own any properties? No
Do you support the Renters United Healthy Homes Commitment? Yes
Do you commit to funding tenant advocacy? Yes
Do you support councils retaining ownership an expanding supply of council housing? Yes
Will you lobby for IRRS to be extended to councils? Yes
Do you commit to densifying inner city suburbs? No answer provided
Will you commit to using your platform to abolish the ratepayers roll? Yes

Stable homes

What actions would you take to improve stability and security for private renters?
I would push for lower red tapes on processes in order to increase the supply of housing especially new built homes

How will you ensure all council tenants have security of tenure?
I will advocate for medium term tenancy agreements (2 – 5 years) which increase the security tenure.

What steps will you take to end homelessness in Wellington?
I will work closely with MSD and Kainga Ora to find ways to find more permanent homes for the homeless people.

Meaningful enforcement

If elected, would you take steps to tackle persistent bad landlords who do not meet their obligations to renters in your area? If so, what?

I would advocate the creation of a landlord scoring dashboard where landlords who persistently receive complaints from tenants would see their scores lowered and visible by all renters so that such activities could avoided.

What do you think Council should do to address power imbalance between landlords and tenants? If nothing, why?
The balance of power is tilted towards landlords. The power should be more proportionate to both renters and landlords so that meaningful long term relationships could be forged between them.

Fair rent

Would you advocate for additional powers or resources from Central Government to address the housing crisis (such as legislating for Rent Control), if so what and how?
I would possibly advocate for higher resources from the Central Government as subsidies for renters.

What do you think are the main reasons rents in Wellington are increasing? How would you ensure rents in Wellington are affordable?
The main reasons rents are increasing in Wellington is because there is scarcity of land. On top of that, earthquake risk further reduces the supply of houses readily available for renters.
The demand for housing is high where as the supply is limited

Safe and healthy homes

What actions (in contrast to or in conjunction with our Healthy Homes Commitment) would you take to improve the quality of private rental housing in your ward and in your city?
I would actively encourage landlords in ward to improve the quality of their houses such as good insulation and double glazing.

Anything else you want to share?

I would like to see specified area in Wellington specifically designated for building of high rise apartments to provide more supply of houses for renters. I would actively promote any businesses that are keen to pursue this.

If you are a candidate or representative of a candidate and wish to correct or elaborate on the information please contact lbe22@rentersunited.org.nz.

Authorised by Geordie Rogers, geordie@rentersunited.org.nz

About the author:

rentersunited

In: Elections 2022, Wellington. .