Covid-19 removed the spotlight from many issues, putting them firmly on the backburner while the pandemic was at its height. But now life is returning to some form of normality and some of those previously hot issues are re-emerging. One such issue is the Healthy Homes minimum standards.

That’s because, until recently, the deadline for compliance with the first stage was looming. However, the Government has now extended that particular deadline out from July to December of this year.

This has come as a relief to many, but it also raises the question of how many landlords are on track with the work that needs to be done for their rental properties to be compliant with the standards. Remember – failure to comply with the standards can lead to fines of up to $500.

So in this article we take a look at what landlords need to have done to ensure they are able to meet the compliance standards in December and then in July 2021.

Statement Deadline Extended

While the standards became law on July 1, 2019, compliance with them is being phased in over a number of years.

The next stage of the phase-in is to have landlords provide a statement of compliance providing information on if and how their rental property complies with the standards in any new or renewed tenancy agreement.

Originally, the deadline for compliance statements was July 1, 2020. But, in June, Associate Minister of Housing Kris Faafoi announced the deadline had been extended for an additional five months.

That’s because in order to complete a statement, landlords need access to their rental properties and to allow tradespeople to complete inspections to determine the level of compliance.

“However, restrictions to property access during Covid-19 alert levels three and four limited landlords’ ability to undertake this activity,” he said. “Further delays are likely going forward due to backlogs caused by the lockdown. That’s why Cabinet has agreed to delay the requirement for compliance statements until December 1, 2020.”

This means new tenancies beginning over the summer period can incorporate the statement of compliance process. But note that the extended deadline is just for the compliance statement – none of the other dates by which rental properties have to comply with the standards are being changed.

Helpful But More Needed

Property industry representatives welcomed the extension of the deadline, which they had been lobbying for. REINZ chief executive Bindi Norwell says the industry had had significant concerns about the ability to meet
the deadline.

One concern was that the compliance statement template wouldn’t be available in time due to the Government’s high Covid-19 related workload. “Also, there were concerns that the qualified tradespeople who were expected to complete the compliance statements were unable to complete the high number of inspections still required post-lockdown.”

While the extension is good news, Norwell says the advice they issued earlier in the year around not leaving inspections until the last minute still applies. “We encourage people to have their inspections booked at their earliest convenience – obviously still taking Covid-19 safety and physical distancing requirements
into account.”

For NZ Property Investors’ Federation executive officer Sharon Cullwick the extension of the deadline is helpful, but not enough. She says landlords continue to face serious challenges and there has been no extension of the other compliance deadlines. “The Government has only done half the job by extending this deadline. There is a critical lack of tradespeople to assess properties in advance of even the December 1 deadline.

“Yet private landlords must still ensure their rental properties comply with the standards within 90 days of any new or renewed tenancy from July 1, 2021. We feel that and the July 2024 deadline by which all properties owned by private landlords must be fully compliant should also be extended.”

‘Use a specialist company to assess a property from top to bottom, inside and out. The standards are quite detailed and it’s important that everything in them is assessed correctly’ DAN VINCENT

Getting It Right

Providing a compliance statement for tenants is not as straight-forward as it sounds. Tenancy Services advises the statement must be a new, separately signed document which is in addition to a tenancy agreement.

It must provide detailed information about how a rental property meets the standards. The level of detail required will highlight the current state of the rental property and what work needs to be carried out before the relevant compliance timeframe.

It does not need to include the information that is already provided by landlords in their insulation statement (which has been required in new tenancy agreements since 2016).

But Tenancy Services say it might be good to provide all information on the compliance statement for clarity of record-keeping.

When it comes to the compliance statement, many landlords are likely to be in the dark on how to accurately assess their property. That’s why it can be a good idea to get a professional to help out, according to Oncore managing director Dan Vincent.

“We suggest that rental property owners use a specialist company to assess their property from top to bottom, inside and out. The standards are quite detailed and it’s important that everything in them is assessed correctly and then clearly documented in a report.

“For example, the heating calculation for the main living room can be quite tricky if you’re not experienced, have a large open plan space, stairs, lots of glass windows and doors and/or irregular shaped ceilings.”

Vincent’s company provides a onestop- shop healthy homes compliance service. He says they are able to generate free quotes for all the work needed to get a property up to the standard required in all the different categories in an initial assessment.

“This can be a huge time and admin saver as a property owner might otherwise need to organise several different companies to provide quotes for separate items. If we then do the work to bring the property up to compliance we can also sign it off without having to charge a reinspection fee.”

But landlords need to act quickly, he says. “If they wait until the last minute there won’t be enough contractors to complete the work before the deadlines. We’re encouraging our customers to get their properties compliant sooner rather than later. It may also ease the financial burden if some of the work is done now and the rest spread over a period of time.”

Vincent warns that landlords should be careful when selecting a company for their assessment. “There are no qualifications or certification required and that’s created a situation where there are some inexperienced operators providing substandard assessments.”

Ventilation Spotlight

This warning is worth heeding because there are now many companies working in this space. Those companies range from one-stop-shop services to specialists in the provision and installation of particular products.

No matter the company type, it is critical that they have the knowledge necessary to accurately assess and address the specific requirements within each standard. For example, let’s take a look at ventilation.

In the compliance statement, landlords need to say whether rooms with an indoor cooktop, bath or shower have an extractor fan installed that vents to the outside and is in good working order. They also need to state the diameter or exhaust capacity of each extractor fan.

The ventilation standard itself requires that kitchen fans or rangehoods must have a minimum diameter (including ducting) of 150mm or an exhaust capacity of at least 50 litres per second.

Bathroom fans must have a minimum diameter (including ducting) of 120mm or an exhaust capacity of at least 25 litres per second.

Rangehood Solutions director Campbell Smith says this information is readily available in the documentation of newer products, but it can be difficult to ascertain in older products. “That means a new replacement product can often be a better option. But rangehoods are not a one size fits all type product.

“With 85% of our installations I go and look at the job to assess it before making any recommendations. It’s necessary to examine the room and environment to see how we can address any issues and provide what best suits that property.”

There’s been an increase in the installations they are doing in rental properties, he says. “We think it will continue as there is an inevitable rush to the various deadlines. So landlords should get on to it, but they should talk to an expert before rushing to a decision. We get a lot of people who don’t and then regret it.”

Unovent specialises in home ventilation systems. Their spokesperson, Tracy Neilson, says it’s worth it for landlords to ensure they get their ventilation up to, or above, the required standard.

They have a range of systems and products to help landlords out with this. “It doesn’t matter how old your rental property is, we can help you in this area. We can advise on all the relevant issues.”

She says landlords understand they need bathroom and kitchen ventilation systems now, but they worry about the costs. “They have a lot of money tied up in their properties so it’s important to get it right.

“But getting it right ultimately saves money. Not only does it prevent mould, which is bad for the property and the tenants, but it allows a landlord to charge more for their property and ensures their asset has a longer life span.”