Deadline passes for rental standards: What tenants and landlords need to know
The standards, passed into law in July 2019, introduced minimum standards for heating, insulation, ventilation, moisture ingress, drainage and draught stopping.
They came into force gradually, but from July 1, 2025, all new and existing tenancies must abide by the rules.
Time is up for landlords who have failed to bring their properties up to standard. (Source: Breakfast)
Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment (MBIE) head of tenancy Kat Watson said the standards were about keeping New Zealand rentals "warmer, drier, and healthier".
ADVERTISEMENT
"There is no excuse not to comply and information about what landlords need to do to comply has been provided since 2019."
So, what are the standards, what happens if landlords don't comply, and what can tenants do if their homes fall short?
A warm, dry and well-ventilated home is the goal of the new standards. (Source: istock.com)
The standards
There must be at least one fixed heater that can directly heat the main living room and be at least 1.5kW in heating capacity. Heat pumps, wood burners, pellet burners or flued gas heaters will be needed in most homes, but in some smaller homes a smaller fixed electric heater may be enough.
Ceilings and underfloors must be insulated to a level set according to the climate zone the home is located in. In Zones 1 and 2, which cover most of the North Island, insulation should be 160mm thick in the ceiling and 100mm under the floor. Colder areas, including the South Island and central North Island, were classified as Zone 3 and required ceiling insulation of an 180mm thickness.
Living rooms, dining rooms, kitchens and bedrooms must have at least one window, door, or skylight that opens to the outside and can stay open. Kitchens and bathrooms must have extractor fans.
ADVERTISEMENT
Rental homes require efficient drainage, including gutters, downpipes and drains to remove stormwater, surface water and groundwater.
Homes should not have unreasonable gaps or holes that cause noticeable draughts.
One of the properties visited by the TCIT in Northland this year that was found not to be fit for human habitation. (Source: Supplied)
Enforcement and consequences
Watson said there were a range of compliance tools available to the Tenancy Compliance and Investigations team (TCIT) to ensure landlords met their obligations.
In 2024, close to half of 1100 proactive assessments identified Healthy Homes Standard breaches. In the first half of 2025, more than 900 proactive assessments had been completed, with breaches in almost 270 cases.
Landlords who do not meet their obligations under the standards are in breach of the Residential Tenancies Act and may face consequences.
ADVERTISEMENT
Larger landlords with six or more rental properties could face penalties of up to $50,000 per breach. Smaller landlords face a lower maximum of $7200 per breach.
That $7200 limit applied even if the landlord had broken more than one rule—for example, failing both the Healthy Homes Standards and general maintenance duties would still result in a single maximum penalty of $7200.
Watson said landlords unsure about whether their rental was compliant or what work was needed to bring the property up to standard should look to the information on the Tenancy Services website, speak with industry professionals and trusted service providers.
TCIT has a range of enforcement tools at its disposal, including formal warnings, improvement notices and the ability to take landlords to the Tenancy Tribunal.
What can tenants do if their home isn't up to scratch?
Tenants should be moving into a warm, dry, well-ventilated home at the start of their tenancy, Watson said.
"If a tenant thinks their home is non-compliant, Tenancy Services advises them to have a talk to their landlord and have a look at the healthy homes compliance statement in the tenancy agreement and refer to the information on our website."
Written notice to the landlord to fix the issue within 14 days can be given if they were not satisfied, with escalation to the Tenancy Tribunal if failure to fix the issue is ongoing.
"It is their legal right in New Zealand to have a warm, dry home, we encourage them to check our website for more information."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Spinoff
20-07-2025
- The Spinoff
Curtain banks are in hot demand
Around the country, a network of curtain banks make and provide curtains that keep homes warm and electricity bills down. Demand is ever-growing, and they're sewing frantically to keep up. If you walk through Habitat for Humanity's Ōtara superstore, down the external and currently chilly alleyway full of ceramic sinks, toilets and baths, there's another reclaimed industrial building. On its bright blue painted side, there's a white sign reading 'CURTAIN BANK' over a set of glass doors. Inside, two industrial sewing machines are humming, their operators carefully running pieces of fabric and curtain tape through straight as an arrow. The irons are hot. There's three big pattern-cutting tables and along the walls, shelves with bundles of curtains labelled with order numbers or dimensions. This is Habitat's curtain bank, where last year the team sent out more curtains than ever before – 11,215 curtains for 732 families. It's not like a food bank where people are only given what's already there – almost every curtain is customised. This bank is just one of a network of 22 curtain banks scattered from Auckland all the way down to Invercargill. Most of the curtain banks don't stand alone – they're part of the Healthy Homes Initiative, with Health New Zealand saying curtains are the highest identified need – ahead of heaters, bedding, mould cleaning kits, blankets, window squeegees and small repairs. The Healthy Homes Initiative, which aims to help more families live in warm, dry homes, has been successful and cost-effective in reducing child hospitalisations, improving school attendance, reducing energy hardship and a raft of other health and social benefits. And yet, there's not a mention of curtains in the Healthy Homes Standards. That means that landlords are not obliged to provide them, and so many don't, especially at the lower end of the rental market. Many houses seen by Healthy Homes teams don't have any curtains at all, or they might be thin or mouldy. Sometimes people have venetian blinds or roller blinds that don't provide a thermal barrier. Often, people don't realise how much of a difference curtains can make. In Wellington, orders are closed at the city's only curtain bank, run by Sustainability Trust. The team of two full-time staff and 27 volunteers is still working on curtain orders from last year, and it's not just sewing. Here, as well as providing curtains, the team aims to divert as much waste as possible from landfill. All the curtains begin with a donation, usually of a pre-loved curtain and occasionally of fabric. Donations need to be unpacked and checked for mold which is either cut, pulled or unpicked away. The rest is measured, laundered and filed in one of two little rooms that serve as the curtain library. Curtain tracks and their brackets are donated too. In another room they're cleaned and refurbished. There's also gliders, hooks and tape to sort and store. 'I keep on taking up more space,' says Julie Gunn, the curtain bank manager. 'There's just a lot happening. We are getting lots of curtain donations coming in, which is good, but we need to keep up.' Then comes actually filling orders. Measurements of the windows of a household come through home visits by the trust's Heathy Homes team or other referral pathways. Best practice guidelines are followed so that the curtains are as effective as possible. The length must be 'to the floor and a little bit more,' says Gunn, and the width must allow for plenty of folds and for the curtain to extend past the window frame, 'so there's less chance for that warm air to sneak in behind the curtain'. It's also important that the curtains are lined to create an insulating layer of air. Gunn compares it to the puff in a puffer jacket. Ideally, the fabric is a tightly woven natural fibre, heavy and thick. Thermal backed curtains aren't great as the backing deteriorates and can't easily be washed. 'There's so much love and care that goes into each step of the process,' says Gunn. But the curtain bank needs more than that to run. At the end of the year, its major sponsorship is coming to an end. Even that sponsorship doesn't cover costs – the shortfall is made up for by the Sustainability Trust. 'We apply to every funding opportunity that comes along,' says Gunn. 'We have noticed that there is more and more demand on the charitable and philanthropic funding that is available. That's tough, because everyone applying to those funding opportunities is doing really good and really important work.' Up in Auckland, the Habitat curtain bank services households across the city and in Northland. They can keep their wait times down – about two months in summer and six in winter – because compared to other curtain banks they are well-resourced and staffed. They purchase premade curtains and new curtain fabric, lining, tape and tracks. Still, even the premade curtains are almost always customised in some way to properly fit the window they are heading to. 'These are top-end custom curtains,' says Jane, an experienced sewist there. She's pressing a crisp seam on a chocolate brown curtain with flocked flowers. 'For the most part people are really appreciative,' she says. A national network of curtain banks tries to meet yearly. A couple of years ago, Curtain Call, a group that advocates adding curtains to the Healthy Homes Standards, sprung from the network. Curtain Call argues that leaving curtains out leaves a gap in the legislation, and in 2023 publicly campaigned, met with politicians and petitioned the government. With the coalition government, they changed their tack. Leana Hunt, operations manager in Habitat's northern region, says 'it's not their [the government's] priority right now'. Curtain Call is continuing to raise awareness among communities, without directly petitioning politicians. For as long as curtains aren't in the standards, curtain banks will continue to face more demand than they can keep up with, but not without joy. 'It is sad that there is so much need out there,' says Gunn from Wellington, 'but it is a wonderful thing to be involved with.' When families open up their boxes of curtains, 'I want all of that love to spill out onto them, because we love what we do.'
1News
10-07-2025
- 1News
Dawn service held 40 years on from Rainbow Warrior bombing
The Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior has sailed into Auckland to mark the 40th anniversary of the bombing of the original Rainbow Warrior in 1985. Greenpeace's vessel, which had been protesting nuclear testing in the Pacific, sank after French government agents planted explosives on its hull, killing Portuguese photographer Fernando Pereira. Today, 40 years on from the events on July 10 1985, a dawn ceremony was held in Auckland. Author Margaret Mills was a cook on board the ship at the time, and has written about her experience in a book entitled Anecdotage. Author Margaret Mills. (Source: 1News) ADVERTISEMENT The 95-year-old told Breakfast the experience on board "changed her life". 'I was sound asleep, and I heard this sort of bang and turned the light on, but it wouldn't go on. She said when she left her room, a passenger told her "we've been bombed". "I laughed at him, I said 'we don't get bombs in New Zealand, that's ridiculous'." Newsmakers: Rainbow Warrior deckhand recalls French bombing She said they were taken to the police station after a "big boom when the second bomb came through". "I realised immediately, I was part of a historical event," she said. ADVERTISEMENT Journalist David Robie (right) and Greenpeace executive director Russel Norman (Source: 1News) Journalist on the Rainbow Warrior David Robie told Breakfast it was a "really shocking, shocking night". "We were so overwhelmed by the grief and absolute shock of what had happened. But for me, there was no doubt it was France behind this." "But we were absolutely flabbergasted that a country could do this." He said it was a "very emotional moment" and was hard to believe it had been 40 years since that time. "It stands out in my life as being the most momentous occasion as a journalist covering that whole event." Executive director of Greenpeace Aotearoa Russel Norman said the legacy of the ship was about "people who really stood up for something important". ADVERTISEMENT "I mean, ending nuclear testing in the Pacific, imagine if they were still exploding bombs in the Pacific. We would have to live with that. And those people back then they stood up and beat the French government to end nuclear testing. "It's pretty inspirational." He said the group were still campaigning on some key environmental issues today.
1News
30-06-2025
- 1News
Deadline passes for rental standards: What tenants and landlords need to know
Time is up for landlords who have failed to bring their properties up to standard, with all New Zealand rental homes now legally required to comply with the Healthy Homes Standards from today. The standards, passed into law in July 2019, introduced minimum standards for heating, insulation, ventilation, moisture ingress, drainage and draught stopping. They came into force gradually, but from July 1, 2025, all new and existing tenancies must abide by the rules. Time is up for landlords who have failed to bring their properties up to standard. (Source: Breakfast) Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment (MBIE) head of tenancy Kat Watson said the standards were about keeping New Zealand rentals "warmer, drier, and healthier". ADVERTISEMENT "There is no excuse not to comply and information about what landlords need to do to comply has been provided since 2019." So, what are the standards, what happens if landlords don't comply, and what can tenants do if their homes fall short? A warm, dry and well-ventilated home is the goal of the new standards. (Source: The standards There must be at least one fixed heater that can directly heat the main living room and be at least 1.5kW in heating capacity. Heat pumps, wood burners, pellet burners or flued gas heaters will be needed in most homes, but in some smaller homes a smaller fixed electric heater may be enough. Ceilings and underfloors must be insulated to a level set according to the climate zone the home is located in. In Zones 1 and 2, which cover most of the North Island, insulation should be 160mm thick in the ceiling and 100mm under the floor. Colder areas, including the South Island and central North Island, were classified as Zone 3 and required ceiling insulation of an 180mm thickness. Living rooms, dining rooms, kitchens and bedrooms must have at least one window, door, or skylight that opens to the outside and can stay open. Kitchens and bathrooms must have extractor fans. ADVERTISEMENT Rental homes require efficient drainage, including gutters, downpipes and drains to remove stormwater, surface water and groundwater. Homes should not have unreasonable gaps or holes that cause noticeable draughts. One of the properties visited by the TCIT in Northland this year that was found not to be fit for human habitation. (Source: Supplied) Enforcement and consequences Watson said there were a range of compliance tools available to the Tenancy Compliance and Investigations team (TCIT) to ensure landlords met their obligations. In 2024, close to half of 1100 proactive assessments identified Healthy Homes Standard breaches. In the first half of 2025, more than 900 proactive assessments had been completed, with breaches in almost 270 cases. Landlords who do not meet their obligations under the standards are in breach of the Residential Tenancies Act and may face consequences. ADVERTISEMENT Larger landlords with six or more rental properties could face penalties of up to $50,000 per breach. Smaller landlords face a lower maximum of $7200 per breach. That $7200 limit applied even if the landlord had broken more than one rule—for example, failing both the Healthy Homes Standards and general maintenance duties would still result in a single maximum penalty of $7200. Watson said landlords unsure about whether their rental was compliant or what work was needed to bring the property up to standard should look to the information on the Tenancy Services website, speak with industry professionals and trusted service providers. TCIT has a range of enforcement tools at its disposal, including formal warnings, improvement notices and the ability to take landlords to the Tenancy Tribunal. What can tenants do if their home isn't up to scratch? Tenants should be moving into a warm, dry, well-ventilated home at the start of their tenancy, Watson said. "If a tenant thinks their home is non-compliant, Tenancy Services advises them to have a talk to their landlord and have a look at the healthy homes compliance statement in the tenancy agreement and refer to the information on our website." Written notice to the landlord to fix the issue within 14 days can be given if they were not satisfied, with escalation to the Tenancy Tribunal if failure to fix the issue is ongoing. "It is their legal right in New Zealand to have a warm, dry home, we encourage them to check our website for more information."
