How landlords can comply with the Healthy Homes Standards

Every item listed on our site must comply with the law and our terms and conditions, and we’re explicit on our Banned and Restricted page that you cannot list a rental property that breaches the Healthy Homes Standards. 

This means that all private rentals must comply with the standards to provide adequate heating, insulation, ventilation and other requirements such as draught stopping and drainage.  

Many Kiwis rent accommodation in New Zealand and 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 such as asthma and cardiovascular conditions. This can cause serious health implications for families. 

The healthy homes requirements exist to ensure improved quality of rental homes with the goal of raising improved health outcomes for occupants, as well as lower medical costs and lower levels of hospitalisations.

Tenancy Services has a wealth of information to help ensure your rental property complies with the healthy homes standards including:

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

The landlord is responsible for taking any remedial action on your property to ensure your rental meets the compliance requirements within the Healthy Homes standards, and this includes ongoing maintenance work. 

When do the Healthy Homes Regulations apply?

All private rentals must comply within 90 days of any new or renewed tenancy after 1 July 2021, with all private rentals complying by 1 July 2024.

How does Trade Me monitor for compliance and what action can it take? 

Properties that do not meet the Healthy Homes Standard are illegal and therefore cannot be listed on Trade Me.

Any listings identified in breach of the standards are promptly withdrawn by our Trust and Safety team. However, we can only evaluate listings at face value based on what is presented in the listing including description, photographs and also what the member supplies.

If you discover a listing of concern, please feel free to use the Community Watch function at the bottom of every listing to report this directly to the Trust and Safety team. They will take action as appropriate. This could be in the form of removing a listing, banning a member, and/or engaging with the member to demonstrate compliance.

We believe developing and enforcing regulations is the place of lawmakers to ensure consistency for renters and regulators have statutory, and other legal powers to take appropriate enforcement action.

Help! My landlord has not brought the house up to standard!

The Aratohu Tenant Advocacy has a great guide on how to engage with your landlord to rectify any issues. If you have no success in resolving your concerns, you can make a claim with the Tenancy Tribunal. 

Trade Me believes the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment should be able to take a general complaint from the public about an unfit rental.

Community Law has this handy guide on your rights about your use and enjoyment of the house or flat, including the requirement of landlords to provide a kitchen with an adequate means of preparing and cooking food. This includes both by boiling (so a stove top with elements) and by baking (an oven). A proper heating apparatus for the living room must also be supplied. 

Homes should be listed without out mould present.