Insulation (Healthy Homes Standards)

The healthy home standards

Healthy homes standards aim to improve the health and warmth of kiwi families by creating minimum standards for heating, Insulation, ventilation, draught stopping, moisture ingress and drainage.

The ‘Residential Tenancies HHS regulation 2019’ are in Force 1st July 2021 or new or renewed Tenancy Agreements must comply with all the new standards within 90 days

Expertworx can help get your properties compliant with expert advice and inspections to check if your property is up to standard.
If your property is not up to tenancy minimum standards, we will do the work to make sure your properties are compliant.

By improving the quality of your property, Kiwi families will experience improved health, live in warmer, drier homes and your properties are less likely to have issues with mould or mildew damage, which better protects your investments and lower your maintenance cost.

The healthy homes standards incorporate five aspects of property, which all contribute to a warm and dry home.

Heating

All rental properties must have one or more fixed heaters, which can directly heat the main living room and meet a required heating capacity. A heating assessment tool is provided at tenancy.govt.nz/heating-tool, provides you with a report that shows the minimum heating capacity required and can check if current heating is sufficient to meet the standard, or if it is necessary to install a new heater.

Draught stopping

Open fireplaces must be blocked unless the tenant and landlord agree otherwise
Unreasonable gaps and holes in walls, ceiling, windows, floors, and doors that cause noticeable draughts.

Moisture ingress and drainage

Rental properties must have efficient drainage for the removal of storm water, surface water and ground water, including an appropriate outfall. The drainage system must include gutters, downpipes and drains for removal of water from the roof.
If the property has enclosed underfloor, a ground moisture barrier must be installed if it is reasonably practical to do so.

Insulation

Ceiling and underfloor insulation has been compulsory in all rental homes since 1st July 2019, where it is reasonably practicable to install
Underfloor insulation needs a minimum R-value of 1.3
Existing ceiling Insulation may need to be topped up or replaced if it is not in reasonable condition.
Existing ceiling insulation need to be at least 120mm thick

Ventilation

All kitchens and bathrooms must have an extractor fan that ventilates externally
The windows and door must be able to be fixed in the open position
Rental properties must have at least one door or window (including skylights) that opens to the outside in all bedrooms, dining rooms, lounges, kitchen, living room
The openable windows and doors must have 5% of the floor area in each respective room