Bravo to Healthy Homes

There’s been a lot of talk lately about how compliance with Healthy Homes continues to lag, as some landlords find loopholes and make sub-par improvements. Then there are those blatantly ignoring the standards, not expecting follow-through from Government agencies come 1 July when the standards finally gain teeth and become enforceable.  

From where I sit, this is the exception not the rule.  It’s clear as day the standard of rental properties has risen by a substantial margin over the last five years.  That’s thanks to Healthy Homes.  

It was always going to be hard work and a long game. After all, the standard was low for a very long time.  Surviving a mouldy, draughty, student flat was a rite of passage we all seemed to make peace with, while ignoring the uncomfortable reality that 1/3 of New Zealanders faced living in those conditions forever.   

Working in the property industry, I was reminded every day of the many houses in our midst that made people sick.  Granted, there were moments of progress, like when we doubled down on meth safeguards.  There was also the era of insulation subsidies, which certainly helped with draughty floorboards.  

But the problem was always much bigger than meth contamination and insulation. And it wasn’t one that real estate agents could fix on their own.  

Healthy Homes was necessary, and the heavy lifting has now been done.   I think we can be proud of what we’ve accomplished.  

Tenants can now reasonably expect a rental property to be warm, dry and mould-free.  This was not the case five years ago, let alone twenty.   

Landlords, almost without exception, are thinking carefully about the wellbeing of their future tenants. Again, this is a big shift. 

There’s nuance, of course.  For some ‘mum and dad investors’, the improvements necessitated by Healthy Homes went well beyond Pink Batts and a heat pump and this hit them in the pocket, hard.  I think it’s important we acknowledge their efforts, especially in these tough economic times.    

Working with first-time investors in recent weeks, I've had a glimpse of how the Healthy Homes standards have become more or less BAU.  These individuals are budgeting for HRV systems, heat-pumps and thermal curtains from day one, knowing exactly what needs to be done to bring an older property up to standard.  They’re not protesting or finding loopholes and workarounds.   

Healthy Homes is the only ‘normal’ they know and that feels like an awful lot of progress to me, especially knowing that 40% of retirees are set to be renting in the not-too-distant future.