Property Management
4 min read
Author: Tom Greene
Business Development Manager with 5 years Property Management industry experience. Property Investor in Christchurch
Reviewed by: Tina List
Client Relationship Manager and Team Lead at Opes Partners.
Every rental property in New Zealand must meet minimum Healthy Homes standards.
And a new deadline is coming up fast ... tougher rules are about to come in.
From July 1, 2025 your property must be Healthy Homes compliant from day 1.
So you need to have a Healthy Homes assessment. If you don’t do this your tenant could take you to tribunal, and if that happens you might have to pay up to $7,200 (or more!)
So, I’m currently saying to investors: “Go get a Healthy Homes Assessment.”
In this article, you’ll learn what the Healthy Homes standards are and what you need to do to put it right.
Healthy Homes is a law enforced by Tenancy Services/MBIE. It ensures rental properties are warm and dry for Kiwis to live in.
These standards became law in July, 2019 and were updated in May, 2022.
Essentially, these new rules introduced minimum requirements for rental properties.
They came in because not all rental properties were up to scratch. And cold, damp, mouldy homes cause health issues (like asthma) for tenants.
So, there are 5 key factors you need to meet under the standards:
The standards are technical. For example, the Tenancy Services guide to ventilation standards is 12 pages long.
For an in-depth look at each of these 5 key standards, read our article: The 5 Healthy Homes Standards – And why your property might fail
As of July 1 2025 you cannot start a new tenancy without proving it is Healthy Homes compliant through an assessment.
Previously, there was a “safe harbour”. You had 120 days from the day you completed the assessment to fix issues.
That ends on July 1 2025.
As soon as you sign a new tenancy agreement (or renew) – the property needs to be compliant by July 1 2025.
Yes. You must (by law) make sure your property meets the standards.
If your tenant doesn’t think their home meets the standards they can take you to the Tenancy Tribunal.
The tribunal can:
The money you pay in fines goes to the tenant, not the tribunal, so the tenant has an incentive to make the application (and they do).
So, property investors and managers need to keep diligent records to show their properties are up to code.
When you rent your property you need to give the tenant a Healthy Homes Compliance statement.
You can do this Healthy Homes inspection yourself, although most investors hire a company to complete it for them.
This typically costs $200-$300.
Here are a few providers (and their prices). These were current at time of writing:
Yes, the law hasn’t changed.
So, technically anyone can still sign off a property as Healthy Homes compliant.
If you decide to do it yourself, you can download an empty Compliance Statement template (and a guide on how to do it) on the Tenancy Services website.
These standards are technical, but you can get more info online about how to complete the assessment.
Here’s what the Heating Standard section looks like:
Under this standard, you need to calculate the power of your heaters (in kilowatts). The best way to do this is to use the Heating Assessment Tool.
If you’re buying a New Build, you typically want the property ready to rent by the time you pay for the property (settlement), so you’ll need to get the assessment done beforehand.
If that’s you, it’s often more efficient to pay a company to do it for you.
If you choose to do it alone, there are some risks if you don’t do it correctly.
You can get fined up to $7,200 per Healthy Homes category breach. (There are 5 categories).
A breach means your property wasn’t compliant even after you, the investor, declared it was.
If you find issues with your New Build, developers will often fix them for you. That’s under the 12-month defect period.
This is usually straightforward if a professional identifies the problem; developers listen to professionals.
But, in the past when investors have done these assessments themselves, developers often push back more. There is more debate.
Let’s say a property owner declares their property as compliant, but it later turns out it actually isn’t compliant.
You might find it harder to get compensation or the issue fixed by the developer if you did the assessment yourself.
That’s because, if you incorrectly say that everything is fine, you might have a harder time holding the developer accountable for defects or problems that arise later.
The July 1, 2025 deadline is fast approaching.
So you need to ensure your rental property meets the Healthy Homes standards to avoid fines.
Not all New Builds meet the Healthy Homes standards, so even if your property meets code, you still need to confirm it meets the standards.
A professional Healthy Homes assessment is the most reliable way to do this.
Sure, you can do the assessment yourself, but an independent evaluation provides peace of mind. It also puts you in a stronger position if there are any compliance issues that arise later with the developer.
Business Development Manager with 5 years Property Management industry experience. Property Investor in Christchurch
Tom Greene is the Business Development Manager at Opes Property Management in Christchurch with over five years of industry experience and is also an experienced property investor. Tom provides tenancy guidance and insight to those both starting and continuing their investment journey.
This article is for your general information. It’s not financial advice. See here for details about our Financial Advice Provider Disclosure. So Opes isn’t telling you what to do with your own money.
We’ve made every effort to make sure the information is accurate. But we occasionally get the odd fact wrong. Make sure you do your own research or talk to a financial adviser before making any investment decisions.
You might like to use us or another financial adviser
