Healthy homes standards
The healthy homes standards aim to make a significant change to the quality of New Zealand rental homes. The standards cover improvements to heating, insulation, and ventilation, and address issues with moisture ingress and drainage and draught stopping.
About the standards
Ensuring everyone has a warm dry rental home is a priority for improving the wellbeing of New Zealanders and their families. Nearly 600,000 households rent in New Zealand and research tells us that NZ’s rental housing is of poorer quality than owner-occupied homes.
The Residential Tenancies (Healthy Homes Standards) Regulations 2019 became law on 1 July 2019.
The healthy homes standards include minimum standards for:
- heating
- insulation
- ventilation
- moisture ingress and drainage
- draught stopping.
Information for tenants and landlords
The Tenancy Services website has more information about the healthy homes standards, including your rights and responsibilities, and advice for tenants and landlords.
Compliance timeframes
The compliance timeframes are as follows:
|
Date |
Milestone |
|
1 July 2021 |
From this date, private landlords must ensure that their rental properties comply with HHS within 90 days of any new tenancy. |
|
1 July 2021 |
All boarding houses must comply with the HHS. |
|
1 July 2023 |
Kāinga Ora – Homes and Communities and registered Community Housing Provider houses must comply with the HHS. |
|
1 July 2024 |
All rental homes must comply with the HHS. |
Monitoring implementation of the Healthy homes standards
In 2020, we commissioned a series of surveys of renters and landlords, to help HUD and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) monitor the implementation of the Healthy Homes Guarantee Act (HHGA).
These surveys are designed to track the awareness of and compliance with the healthy homes standards through a yearly online survey of renters and landlords from across the country.
Published: October 13, 2021