Healthy Homes deadlines extended

The deadline for Healthy Homes compliance has been extended due to disruptions caused by Covid-19 and supply-chain issues, according to the Government

Community housing providers including Kāinga Ora (formally Housing New Zealand) originally had until 1 July 2023 to meet Healthy Homes requirements, which include minimum standards for heating, insulation, ventilation, moisture ingress and drainage, and draught stopping.

The deadline to achieve compliance is now 1 July 2024.

From July 2021, private sector landlords had to meet Healthy Homes standards within 90 days of any new or renewed tenancy. Under the extension, landlords will have 120 days to ensure a tenancy meets Healthy Homes standards.

Regardless of whether the tenancy is new or renewed, all private rentals must be Healthy Homes compliant by 1 July 2025.

Covid among those to blame

As of July 2022, only 50% of Kāinga Ora homes were compliant. The government organisation says its renovation program has been delayed by six months due to 240,000 hours of labour being lost to Covid restrictions.

“We recognise the impact that Covid-19 has had on getting this work done because of global supply chain and delivery challenges, including limited workforce challenges,” said Housing Minister Dr Megan Woods.

“It makes sense to be pragmatic as most landlords are genuinely trying to comply with their obligations but are at risk of breaching them because of issues outside of their control.”

Compliance gathers pace

According to Woods, 85% of private rentals had met or were underway to meeting the standards and 84% of Kāinga Ora homes were in the same position.

“Currently Kāinga Ora is bringing around 600 homes a week up to the new standard,” said Woods.

“Pragmatically delaying the timeframes for compliance will ease pressure on landlords; however, we do expect Kāinga Ora to aim to have as many properties as possible compliant by the original deadline of July 2023. Projections indicate they could achieve around 95%compliance by the original date.”

The new legislation has not been without controversy. New Zealand Property Investors’ Federation executive officer Sharon Cullwick says the lack of consistency between Healthy Homes standards and the Building Code creates unnecessary confusion as Healthy Homes standards are only relevant once a property is put up for rent.

Code changes required?

“They really need to change the Building Code,” she said in 2021. “Then every new build is up to the Healthy Homes standard. Otherwise, if you buy a new build today and you’re looking at putting tenants in it, you actually need to get the heating up to the requirement of the Healthy Homes.”

However, builders can access a Healthy Homes assessment based on plans, which can help avoid time consuming and costly corrective work.

A statement on the Healthy Homes website said: “We have been assisting development companies nationwide and private home builders with their heating and ventilation calculations prior to heating and extraction systems being installed, to make sure they comply with the Tenancy Service healthy homes standards before the properties are built.”