How landlords can comply with the healthy homes standards

All private rentals in Aotearoa must comply with healthy homes standards. This means the home has adequate heating, insulation, ventilation, draught stopping, and drainage.

Tenancy Services has information to help you ensure your rental property complies with the healthy homes standards.

• Heating standard
• Insulation standard
• Ventilation standard
• Moisture ingress and drainage standard
• Draught stopping standard

Landlords are responsible for making sure their rental property meets the requirements. This includes any remedial action to meet the standards and ongoing maintenance work to make sure it stays that way.

Why the healthy homes standards are important

Many Kiwi rent accommodation in New Zealand, but research shows that New Zealand’s rental stock is of poorer quality than owner-occupied homes.

Research has also demonstrated a link between cold, damp, and mouldy homes and negative health outcomes, particularly for illnesses like asthma and cardiovascular conditions. This can cause serious health implications for residents.

The healthy homes standards exist to improve the quality of rental homes and health outcomes. Warmer, dryer rental properties could lead to lower medical costs and fewer hospitalisations.

When landlords need to meet the standard by

Between 1 July 2021 and 1 July 2025, landlords need to make sure their rental complies with healthy homes standards within certain timeframes. These time frames could vary based on the type of tenancy and when a new tenancy will start.

What if there's a non-compliant property on Trade Me

Properties that don't meet healthy homes standards are illegal and therefore cannot be listed on Trade Me.

If members are concerned about a rental property listing, they can report it to us using Community Watch. Our Trust & Safety team will evaluate the listing's description and photographs. They may get in touch with the member who listed the property for more information about their healthy homes compliance. If we find the listing breaches standards, we can remove it or ban the member.