October 5th 2017
International Tenants Day.
The first Monday in October has been designated as International Tenants Day.This year the head office in Stockholm has particular emphasis on fire regulations and fire safety.This choice was brought home by the devastating and tragic fire in Grenfell Tower in West London.
The Manawatu Tenants Union along with the New Zealand Fire Service arranged a stall in the City Library to highlight fire safety in the home.It was an excellent opportunity to deliver our message along with The New Zealand Fire Service on the dangers of fire in the home.It was viewed by a number of people and we would like to say thanks to the library staff who assisted with our small exhibition.
The background to the International Tenants Day dates back to 1986 when the decision was made to designate the first Monday in October to highlight issues facing tenants around the world.
Here in New Zealand there are not many tower blocks around the country like Grenfell Tower,some high rise blocks are in Auckland and are tenanted mostly by International students.
Most families are living in ground level housing,but no one has security of tenure,they face rising rents and are at the wrong end of the housing ladder,in the present housing crisis.The present National led government are ideological not in favour of providing state housing,this is the wrong move in trying to house desperate families looking for affordable housing.Now with the election out of the way and with the Labour Party pushing the present administration to the left on housing issues,something will change and rental housing gets the attention it deserves.
