Deadlines set up for healthy home rentals
Private landlords have been given just over two years to ensure rental properties meet the Government’s healthy home standards.
Housing and Urban Development Minister Phil Twyford announced the changes in Wellington yesterday which will set minimum standards for heating, insulation, ventilation, moisture and drainage in residential rental properties. Private landlords have until July 1, 2021, to comply, while Housing NZ and other social housing providers have another two years.
The New Zealand Property Investors’ Federation predicted tenants would foot the bill for improvements.
Executive officer Andrew King was supportive of the quality standards but said changes would need to be cost-effective so landlords did not pass them on, but that was unlikely for homes with existing insulation.
‘‘Topping up existing insulation provides very little improvement for tenants but costs almost the same as installing completely new insulation.’’
Heat pumps would increase rental prices by about $15 per week because they were expensive to buy, install, maintain and replace, he added.
‘‘This means tenants who do not want, and will not use, a heat pump will still be paying for it through higher rent.’’
Twyford said the upgrade cost for an average three-bedroom home which did not meet the standards would be about $7000.
Landlord Lynley Thomas, at whose Lyall Bay home the announcement was made, said she wouldn’t increase rents as a result of the changes but imagined others would.
She said the Government’s announcement would be ‘‘great for the wellbeing of tenants ... from a landlord’s point of view, you don’t like to be told to spend money’’. It could be a scary concept for people who weren’t property investors to face extra expenses and it would mean more paperwork for property managers, she added.
‘‘The flow-on effects may, in time, flow on to the tenant.’’
Thomas’ home met the Government’s standards after a recent refurbishment but, she said, others she owned would need work.
Nearly 600,000 households were rental properties but were of poor quality, compared with owner-occupied homes, Twyford said. ‘‘It’s estimated about 200,000 families live in rental homes that do not have ceiling or underfloor insulation.’’ The Ministry of Health said 6000 children each year received ‘‘housing-sensitive hospitalisations’’, he said.
Children were nearly four times more likely to be rehospitalised and 10 times more likely to die in the following 10 years. ‘‘We cannot continue to accept this.’’
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson welcomed the announcement, saying no-one should have to live in a home that made them sick.
‘‘I’ve lived in a house where the damp was unrelenting and mould made my kids sick.
‘‘We can do so much better than this and this is exactly what this Government is doing.’’
The next step is for the standards to be drafted in regulations and approved by Cabinet. The regulations will become law by mid-2019.
All rental homes required to:
❚ Have a heater that can heat the main living area to 18 degrees Celsius.
❚ Have ceiling and underfloor insulation that meets the 2008 Building Code insulation standard, or (for existing ceiling insulation) has a minimum thickness of 120 millimetres.
❚ Have extraction fans in kitchens and bathrooms.
❚ Have a ground moisture barrier to stop moisture rising into the home where there is an enclosed subfloor space.
❚ Have adequate drainage and guttering to prevent water entering the home.
❚ Exclude draughts that make a home harder to heat.
July 1, 2021 – Private landlords must ensure rental properties comply with the healthy home standards within 90 days of any new tenancy, and all boarding houses must comply with the healthy home standards.
July 1, 2023 – All Housing NZ houses and registered Community Housing Providers houses must comply with the healthy home standards.
July 1, 2024 – All rental homes must comply with the healthy home standards.
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