Room for improvement over ensuring healthy rentals
Compliance with rentals standards is improving, but inspections show some ‘‘quite alarming’’ gaps. Miriam Bell reports.
More than 60% of rental properties assessed by one inspection company are fully compliant with the healthy homes standards, but experts say widespread compliance is not happening quickly enough.
All Clear Group NZ analysed data collected from more than 15,000 assessments in Auckland, Northland, Waikato and Canterbury, and found that the number of fully compliant properties has increased significantly. This suggests the quality of rental housing is improving, although tales of substandard rentals remain rife, and there is no central record of how many rentals nationwide are now compliant with the standards.
The healthy homes standards, which became law in 2019, set minimum requirements for heating, insulation, ventilation, moisture, drainage and draughtstopping in rental properties. Compliance is being phased in over a number of years, but since July last year all private rental properties have had to comply with the standards within 90 days of any new or renewed tenancy.
Prior to last July, industry estimates indicated fewer than a quarter of rental properties were passing their healthy homes standards compliance inspections on first try. And in a Governmentcommissioned
survey, conducted at the end of last year, 57% of 1600 tenants said there was a problem with dampness or mould, and 55% said they had a problem heating their rental or keeping warm in the winter.
But All Clear Group NZ’s new figures show that while first inspection pass rates remain low at just 19%, the number of fully compliant properties has jumped to 61% from 27% last year.
The company’s co-founder, Adam Gordon, says the increase had stepped up after changes to the standards came into force in May. ‘‘But our figures show there is higher compliance with some standards than others. There was a 95% rate of compliance on underfloor insulation, but a 61% rate on heating, for example.’’
Heating had the lowest compliance rate, but compliance around fireplace draught-stopping was just
64%, and draught-stopping around gaps and holes was 80%. Ventilation was also a mixed bag, with a 94% compliance rate around the habitable spaces requirement, but a 75% rate for bathroom and kitchen extraction.
Gordon says he expects compliance to continue to improve and he cannot see any future Government getting rid of the standards because ‘‘the science behind the standards is solid‘‘.
Green Building Council figures generated by the council’s online HomeFit self-assessment tool also suggest compliance with some standards is significantly better than with others.
Over the year to June, there were 22,000 assessments, and while 86% of properties had some form of heating in the main living area, 42% had holes or gaps in the walls, ceilings, floorboards or windows that let cold air in.
Likewise, while 72% of properties had a range hood or extractor fan in the kitchen and 71% had an extractor fan in the bathroom, in 42% there was visible
mould.
Another issue is that central government does not have a register of rental properties that are compliant with the standards, he says. ‘‘It is concerning that we don’t know how many are up to standard.’’
While Tenancy Services does not have a register, a spokesperson says it does carry out proactive and reactive investigations of properties to check if they are compliant.
Between July 1 last year and September 23 this year, the Tenancy Compliance and Investigations Team received 223 complaints about healthy home compliance, and issued 87 landlords with 99 enforcement measures.
But trying to make sure the standards are enforced is a problem for tenants. Renters United president Geordie Rogers says information and skills are needed to access enforcement.
‘‘If the dispute goes to the Tenancy Tribunal you have to advocate for yourself, which is really hard, especially against a landlord who has been through the process before.
‘‘Only about 18% of tenants who go to the tribunal with complaints around the standards are successful in getting some form of compensation, or remedies for a breach.’’
He believes compliance with the standards involving visible things, such as heat pumps and extractor fans, has improved, but there has been little progress with less obvious areas, such as draughts.
For many tenants, the barrier to a compliant home is whether a property is exempt, and this often comes down to the length of the tenancy agreement, he says.
‘‘There is greater security of tenure now, which is great. But until a tenancy is new or renewed, a property does not legally have to be made compliant.
‘‘That will change in 2024, at which point all private rentals will have to comply, but there are many tenants living in properties where the landlord is waiting until that final deadline to do the necessary work.’’
Joanne Rae, who is the Real Estate Institute’s head of property management, says its members have indicated that about 80% of their rental portfolios have met their compliance deadlines.
Property Brokers general manager of property management David Faulkner says while compliance is progressing slowly, it is progressing.
There continues to be resistance from some landlords who do not believe they need to upgrade their rentals, and it can be a painful process trying to convince them, he says.
‘‘Some kick up a big fuss about it, and we have to give an ultimatum because we can’t work with them if they won’t make their properties compliant. But most accept the reality, and get the work done.’’
‘Whatever your political leaning, the science behind the standards is solid, and there is value in doing this work.’ ADAM GORDON, CO-FOUNDER, ALL CLEAR GROUP NZ