Heat pump crunch ahead of Healthy Homes deadline
The supply of heat pumps could be starting to dry up just as demand from landlords accelerates due to a looming Healthy Homes standards deadline.
From July 1 this year, all private rental properties must comply with the standards within 90 days of any new or renewed tenancy. One of those standards is to do with heating and, essentially, it requires the installation of heat pumps.
But reports of heat pump shortages mean meeting that deadline could be a problem for many landlords, especially if large numbers of them all try to get it sorted at the same time.
That is what happened in 2019 when tenancy law changes required all rental properties to have ceiling and underfloor insulation installed by July of that year.
A huge surge in the number of landlords wanting insulation led to a shortage of insulation materials and some landlords missed the deadline.
Now, there are concerns history could be about to repeat with heat pumps – but with added pressure due to Covid-related supply issues.
Air MC Ltd sales manager Nigel Porter said that, overall, there was a shortage of heat pumps but the big problem was that stock was turning up in fits and starts.
‘‘Suppliers are ordering a lot of stock but it is not coming in regularly, so they might wait 8-12 weeks but then a huge delivery turns up and they are flush for a month.’’
Similar supply issues were hitting many industries and they understood it was primarily a logistics issue, largely due to a shortage of containers and shipping space, Porter said.
‘‘Our expectation is that with the Covid vaccine roll-out the world will slowly come back online and supply problems will decrease.’’
But limited supply and increased demand from landlords could be an issue as the July deadline approached, Porter said.
‘‘This time of year is typically slower in the heat pump market but we are seeing a pickup in demand now for healthy homes installs, which we consider the late rush.’’
Oxygen Air managing director Eddy Rotteveel agreed that supply chain logistics meant there was a shortage of heat pumps in the country, with some suppliers running low in stock.
But an equally big issue for landlords wanting to put in heat pumps was a major shortage of qualified heat pump installers in New Zealand, with border controls meaning it was hard to get qualified installers in from overseas, Rotteveel said.
‘‘The rush to get heat pumps installed in rental properties before July has already started, and the fact there is a shortage of stock and installers means some people could run into problems with that deadline.’’
Landlord representatives were also concerned the situation had the potential to become difficult for some people.
Auckland Property Investors Association president Kristin Sutherland said they were hearing there was a shortage of cheaper heat pumps but most expensive ones were readily available.
While landlords had been advised to make sure their rental properties were compliant with the standards by July, some were still being slow to act.
‘‘The same thing happened with insulation and that led to problems with supply and installation, so we are wondering if it could happen again – but magnified by Covidrelated supply pressures.’’
NZ Property Investors Federation executive officer Sharon Cullwick said she had heard the supply of heat pumps was tight.
‘‘The rush to get heat pumps installed ... has already started.’’ Eddy Rotteveel Oxygen Air