Healthy Home Solutions

Ensure your rental meets the new Healthy Homes standards

From July 1 2019 landlords around the country must work towards making their rentals meet the new healthy homes standards.

The healthy homes standards introduce minimum standards for heating, insulation, and ventilation in rental properties. There has been a lot of talk online and in the media about the standards but overall they will help ensure tenants can keep their homes warm and dry, and landlords will have lower maintenance costs for their investments.

When do I have to comply with the healthy homes standards?

If you have a rental you must comply within 90 days of any new or renewed tenancy after 1 July 2021. All private rentals must be compliant by 1 July 2024.

What do I need to do?

Heating

The living room must have one or more fixed heaters that must be at least 1.5 kW in heating capacity and can heat the room to 18 degrees minimum.

Heating used to meet the healthy homes standards must NOT be an open fire or an unflued combustion heater, such as portable LPG bottle heaters. Electric heaters must have a thermostat, making a heat pump an ideal solution.

Ventilation

The purpose of this healthy home standard is to reduce the dampness and mould that occurs in kitchens and bathrooms.

Kitchens and bathrooms must have extractor fans that vent outside the house. If you have an existing fan it would be worthwhile checking that it is venting externally as venting into the roof space can cause a lot of damage to the building.

Some existing fans may not meet the new standards as there is a minimum size requirement.

Rangehoods are the best choice for kitchens. Extractor fans can be installed into glass if you have a window above your stove.

Contact us for advice on how to meet the healthy homes standards in your rental property. We have many years of experience installing heat pumps, extractor fans, and rangehoods.