The latest news for New Zealand Landlords and Tenants
Take the Healthy Homes Quiz and find out the score for your rental
The Healthy Homes standards set minimum expectations for New Zealand rental properties. These are related to heating, insulation, ventilation, moisture, and drainage. To find out how your rental scores against the standards, take the quiz below!
New Healthy Homes standards came into effect in July 2019, with other additions to the act having a looming deadline. Healthy Homes aims to improve the quality of rental properties for the growing number of tenants in New Zealand.
Currently, over 600,000 households are rentals in New Zealand with the number of tenants heavily outweighing the number of landlords. Not only is there an imbalance between these numbers, but research also shows that owner-occupied homes are in much better condition than rentals occupied by tenants. Due to the link between cold damp homes and respiratory illnesses, combined with the information above, these standards were introduced to take action.
While healthy homes aims to create warmer and drier homes for renters, complying with the standards may also mean less maintenance for landlords. This is because these measures also help to avoid the build-up of mould and mildew which will prolong the life of your property.
For a better idea of how your rental stacks up against the standards take our healthy homes quiz. It’s a quiz for landlords that covers all of the key aspects and finishes with giving your rental a score.
This final score is out of 100 and reflects how compliant your property is with the Healthy Homes standards. It will also let you know whether you still have work to do. Good luck!
(And if you get the golden 100, remember to share it on your social media so other landlords know who to follow)