Living in your house or flat: Rights and obligations
Keeping your home warm and dry: What your landlord has to provide
New minimum standards after July 2021
As we explain in this section, your landlord has specific legal obligations to provide you with heating appliances and to make sure your place isn’t damp. The Tenancy Tribunal has been getting more strict about these requirements since 2017.
Landlords also have to provide proper cooking appliances (an oven and stove top).
The government introduced the new “Healthy Homes Standards” laws in May 2019. These set minimum standards that landlords have to meet – for example, your living room must have a heater that will heat the room to at least 18 degrees.
These new requirements will come into force over several years after 1 July 2021. All requirements will be in force for all rental properties from July 2024.
What are the Healthy Homes Standards?
Residential Tenancies (Healthy Homes Standards) Regulations 2019
The Healthy Homes Standards require every rental property to have:
- Ceiling and underfloor insulation – there must be insulation in the ceiling and under the floor.
- Heating – the living room must have a heater capable of heating the room to at least 18 degrees. The heater must be fixed to a wall or floor of the house, and can’t be a portable heater like an LPG bottle heater. An electric heater must have a thermostat that shows the temperature and allows it to be adjusted. It’s against the law to use an open fire or portable unflued heater.
- Ventilation – there must be an extractor fan in both the kitchen and bathroom. There must also be windows that can open in the living room, dining room, kitchen and bedrooms to allow airflow. There are some exceptions to these ventilation laws, including things like if the house was built before the laws about ventilation came in. The Tenancy website has a full list of exceptions, here (or, go to tenancy.govt.nz and search “ventilation”).
- Moisture drainage – to avoid the house getting damp, there needs to be efficient drainage (such as gutters, downpipes and drains) to remove water (including storm water, surface water, and ground water) from under and outside your home, and from the roof of your house.
- Underfloor ground moisture barrier – where there is an enclosed underfloor space, like a basement, your home must have a ground moisture barrier, unless it’s not reasonably practicable to install one. For example, if an experienced professional installer can’t access the space under your house without substantial building work or without causing substantial damage to the building, it won’t be reasonably practicable to install a barrier. But if it’s just a matter of removing base boards from the outside of the building to access the space, then the work has to be done.
- Draught stopping – there must not be any gaps or holes in walls, ceilings, windows, skylights, floors and doors. Unused chimneys and fireplaces must be blocked off.
When do the Healthy Homes Standards take effect?
Residential Tenancies (Healthy Homes Standards) Regulations 2019 Schedule 1 cl 2
The Healthy Homes Standards were set as part of legislation that was passed in 2019. The majority of these standards are already in force, and need to be followed by landlords.
If you’re in a private rental and you’ve had the same tenancy agreement since before the new standards were in place, your landlord should already be complying with the ceiling and underfloor insulation standards, but they have until 1 July 2024 to comply with the rest of the standards.
The standards don’t apply if the tenant used to own the property or if the property is going to be demolished or substantially rebuilt.
Healthy homes information that must be in a tenancy agreement
Residential Tenancies (Healthy Homes Standards) Regulations 2019, regs 33–40
Residential Tenancies Act 1986,ss 66I, 123A
The following information must be included in a tenancy agreement:
- the heating capacity of the living room and the type of heater provided
- the date the ceiling insulation was installed and last inspected, and its “R” value (warmth rating). The higher the R value, the greater the insulating power, the warmer the home
- a statement that the windows comply with the standard, and the diameter and exhaust capacity of the extractor fans
- a statement that the fireplace has been closed off or the chimney blocked, or (if you as the tenant have asked for this) that the fireplace is available to use
- a statement that the building is free from gaps
- a statement that the building has an efficient drainage system, and a moisture barrier (if applicable).
Your landlord must keep enough relevant paperwork to prove that they have complied with the Healthy Homes Standards, and they must provide it if you ask for it.
Existing protections until the Healthy Homes Standards come into force
Until the Healthy Homes Standards are fully in force (see above), some important minimum rights for tenants continue to exist under the Housing Improvement Regulations 1947, as we explain in this section below.
Does my landlord have to provide a heater?
Residential Tenancies Act 1986, s 45(1)(c)
Housing Improvement Regulations 1947, reg 6
Case: District Court, Chch, CIV-201 0-009-3562, 3 Feb 2011 Case: Tenancy Tribunal 4095081
The law says landlords have to provide an “approved form of heating” in the living room. This can’t be just a power point or a gas outlet – there has to be some kind of heating appliance.
Landlords don’t have to provide heating in the bedrooms and other rooms.
Things that would be considered an “approved form of heating” include:
- A heat pump
- An electric wall heater
- A fireplace
Things that wouldn’t be considered an “approved for of heating” include:
- unflued gas heaters that don’t vent to the outside air
- something that’s clearly inadequate for the size of the house, like a small electric heater in a large home.
If there’s a fireplace, the landlord has to make sure the chimney is swept regularly.
Does my place have to have insulation?
Residential Tenancies (Smoke Alarms and Insulation) Regulations 2016, regs 11–16
All rental homes must have ceiling and underfloor insulation, unless your place is an exception because it’s not reasonably practicable for insulation to be installed.
An example of an exception is if your place is built on a concrete slab so that it’s not possible to install underfloor insulation – or if you have a “skillion” roof, where there’s no ceiling space between the ceiling and the roof where insulation could be installed.
For more information, see: “What are the healthy homes standards?”
All new tenancy agreements also have to include a separately signed “insulation statement,” covering what insulation the place has and what type it is.
Does my landlord have to make sure the place isn’t damp?
Residential Tenancies Act 1986, s 45
Housing Improvement Regulations 1947, reg 15
Yes. Your landlord is legally required to make sure your place is set up to be free from dampness. The kinds of issues the landlord might be responsible for and have to address include:
- the lack of extractor fans (ventilator fans) in the kitchen and bathroom
- windows in the kitchen and bathroom
- the lack of heating (there’s a separate legal requirement to provide an approved form of heating: see above “Does my landlord have to provide a heater?”)
In one case the Tenancy Tribunal put the issue this way
Case: Tenancy Tribunal 4119318
“Preventing mould in a house is a dual obligation of the tenant and landlord: the tenant must live in a way that avoids mould developing by heating and ventilating the house, and wiping away daily condensation that arises from ordinary living; and a landlord must provide a house that is not prone to mould, fix any issue creating mould; and provide the means to heat and ventilate it.”
If your place is damp – for example, there’s mould on the walls – you can remind the landlord that they’re breaking the law and get them to fix it. If they don’t do anything about it, you can take them to the Tenancy Tribunal, and ask for an order to fix the problem.
If you do take the landlord to the Tenancy Tribunal, you’ll need to provide evidence of the dampness – usually this would be photographs of mould.
You can also ask the Tenancy Tribunal to order the landlord to pay you compensation, but you can also ask the Tribunal to pay exemplary damages on top of this. For more about exemplary damages, see: “Discrimination and unfair treatment“.
Example: The meaning of “adequate heating”
Case: Tenancy Tribunal 4139773
The tenant took the landlord to the Tenancy Tribunal, claiming the landlord hadn’t provided an adequate means of heating and that the place was cold and damp, along with other problems.
The law says that there has to be a fireplace or other approved form of heating. In this case there was a fireplace, but the chimney didn’t work, so the Tenancy Tribunal found the landlord had breached this obligation. The landlord argued that the place was cold because the tenant often left doors open – but the Tribunal said that would have been necessary to make sure the place was adequately ventilated.
The Tenancy Tribunal said that in this case, it seems all the landlord had done was offer to paint the place with anti-mould paint – the tenant had said no to this, because it would have meant moving out for a while. The Tribunal said there were probably several reasons for the damp, including poor insulation, poor heating in the lounge, and lack of security stays on the windows to allow them to be open slightly for ventilation. The Tribunal said the landlord should have taken proper steps to fix the mould problem.
The tenant got compensation
To compensate the tenant for the heating, dampness and other problems, the Tenancy Tribunal worked out a rent refund of $3,300, which was about 10% of the rent paid over the tenancy, which lasted about 18 months.
On top of that, the Tribunal also awarded the tenant $600 in “exemplary damages”. This is an extra amount on top of compensation – it’s intended to punish the landlord and discourage other landlords from doing the same thing. The Tribunal said that: “There was a persistent pattern of the landlord taking a minimalist approach to repairs, which meant that problems were not properly fixed. Therefore, an award of exemplary damages is appropriate.”
The maximum exemplary damages that could be awarded for this is $4,000. This landlord hadn’t been taken to the Tribunal before, and the Tribunal decision-maker said “Normally I consider exemplary damages of around 30% of the maximum for a first incident.” That would have meant an extra award of $1,200, but the Tribunal gave the landlord credit for having recently installed an energy-efficient heater in the lounge and putting proper insulation in the house. The amount awarded was $600.
Is my landlord responsible for leaks?
Residential Tenancies Act 1986, ss 38, 45(1)(b)
The landlord is responsible for fixing any leaks in your place, as part of their obligation to keep the place in a reasonable state of repair.
Leaks are usually a serious issue and landlords have to fix them promptly. They shouldn’t be seen as just an inconvenience, because leaks create an unhealthy environment and impact your right to use and enjoy the place.
Leaks can also cause dampness, and your landlord has a separate obligation to make sure your place is free from dampness (see: “Does my landlord have to make sure the place isn’t damp?”).
Does my landlord have to provide a stove and oven for cooking?
Residential Tenancies Act 1986, s 45(1)(c)
Housing Improvement Regulations 1947, regs 5(1)(b), 7(2)(b)
Case: District Court, Akld, CIV 2005-004-1762, 7 Nov 2007
Your place must have a kitchen, and the kitchen must have an adequate means of preparing and cooking food.
This includes both by boiling (a stove top with elements) and by baking (an oven).
