Changes to the Healthy Homes Standards came into force 12 May 2022. This includes changes to the heating, ventilation, moisture ingress and drainage standards.
Last year, REINZ provided feedback to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) raising our members concern that the heating formulas in place appeared to overestimate the size of heaters for certain properties.
Jo Rae, Head of Property Management at REINZ says: “The amendments to the Healthy Homes Standards provide much needed clarity on energy-efficient technologies with consideration for buildings that are more thermally efficient.”
Heating standards for rental properties
The new heating formula applies to:
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Properties built to the 2008 building code
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Certain apartments which are part of a residential building of at least three storeys and have six or more commercial or residential units
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Properties where the insulation and glazing has been installed throughout, so that it now meets or exceeds the 2009 insulation and glazing standards.
Buildings that are not apartments and are not built to the 2008 building code requirements for insulation and glazing will still need to comply with the current Healthy Homes Standards heating requirements.
You can use the heating assessment tool to calculate the heating requirements in your property.
What do the Healthy Home Standards mean for my property?
The changes to the heating standard mean that smaller heating devices can be installed in properties that meet the above criterion. Living room heaters that were installed prior to 2019 that are within 80% of the required heating capacity will also be deemed to meet the heating standard.
In addition to the heating formula, the ventilation standard is also amended to enable the use of continuous mechanical ventilation that extracts outdoors from kitchens and bathrooms. The change will apply to systems installed in properties that received building consent on or after 1 November 2019.
Meeting the Healthy Homes Standards
To help buildings subject to the new heating formula transition into these new changes, private landlords who have a compliance date after 12 May 2022 will be granted a revised deadline to meet the heating standard — they will need to comply by 12 February 2023.
This means property managers will have six months after the amendments are implemented, as well as 90 days of compliance leeway to ensure the property complies. For properties that already meet the existing standards, property managers do not need to do any extra work to comply.
To learn more about what these amendments to the Healthy Homes Standards mean for property managers, view this helpful table from the HUD here.