Every private rental in New Zealand has to meet the Healthy Homes standards. Here's what each one asks of you, what evidence to keep, and where the official rules live. This is general guidance, not legal advice — the letter of the law is at tenancy.govt.nz.
The main living room needs fixed heating that can bring it to a healthy temperature (the benchmark used is 18°C) on the coldest days. In practice that usually means a heat pump or fixed electric heater sized for the room — portable plug-in heaters don't count.
The heater's make, model and capacity, the installer's invoice, and the heating-assessment calculation if you had one done.
Ceiling and underfloor insulation is required where it can reasonably be installed, and it has to meet the minimum thickness or R-value rules — older insulation that has compacted or degraded may no longer pass.
The insulation statement from when it was installed or topped up, the installer's certificate, and photos including a ruler or measure if you took them.
Habitable rooms need windows or doors that open to the outside, and kitchens and bathrooms need extractor fans that vent outdoors — the two rooms that generate the most moisture.
Fan specifications and installation invoices, and a note of which rooms have which openable windows.
The property needs efficient drainage — gutters, downpipes and drains doing their job — and if it has an enclosed subfloor, a ground moisture barrier is required where one can practicably be installed.
Invoices for drainage work or the moisture barrier, and photos of the installed barrier before the access is closed up.
Gaps and holes that let in unreasonable draughts — around windows, doors, floors and walls — must be blocked, and open fireplaces that aren't in use need to be closed off.
A simple dated record of what was sealed and when, with before/after photos. It's the cheapest standard to meet and the easiest to prove.
Yes — the phase-in period has ended, and all private rentals in New Zealand are now required to comply with the Healthy Homes standards while tenanted. Some specific exemptions exist (for example where installation is genuinely not practicable, or for certain short-term situations); the details live on tenancy.govt.nz.
You must keep records that demonstrate compliance with each standard — things like installer statements, invoices, product specifications and photos — and be able to produce them when they're properly requested. New tenancy agreements also need a signed Healthy Homes compliance statement covering the property's current level of compliance.
Failing to meet the standards is a breach of the Residential Tenancies Act. A tenant can take a case to the Tenancy Tribunal, which can order work to be done and award financial penalties against the landlord. Beyond the legal risk, non-compliant homes are colder, damper and harder to keep tenanted.
The regulations recognise situations where full compliance isn't reasonably practicable — for example underfloor insulation where there's no safe access. In those cases you generally have to do what is practicable and keep evidence of why the exemption applies. Don't self-diagnose an exemption without checking the current rules.
Landy gives each rental a file with a section per standard. You attach the statements, invoices and photos once, mark the standard's status, and the evidence stays put — visible to you and your tenant, exportable when your accountant, insurer or the Tribunal asks.
Landy keeps a section per standard on every property — statements, invoices and photos filed once, findable years later.