Lochore's Real Estate Manage Your Property to Government Healthy Homes Standards

Lochore’s Real Estate stress how important it is for Landlords to be getting their rental/investment properties inspected for compliance to the healthy homes standards, and determining a plan for upgrades if needed, to ensure these are completed in time.  As seen by the insulation standard, materials ran short and prices increased as the deadline became closer.

The properties Lochore’s manage all have the opportunity to go through this process, then they can manage the upgrades. This gives Landlords peace of mind that their property is compliant, and not subject to large fines yet takes the hassle away from them of getting their property compliant, as the timeline for compliance became law in 2019.

Landlords are responsible for maintaining and improving the quality of their rental properties, and these standards will help ensure landlords have healthier, safer properties and lower maintenance costs for their investments. Lochore’s have put together a schedule showing what will be required and the compliance timeline, which you can find on their website, but the basics are as follows. 

The healthy homes standards introduce specific and minimum standards for heating, insulation, ventilation, moisture and drainage, and draught stopping in rental properties, and landlords must provide one or more fixed heaters that can directly heat the main living room to a maintained temperature of at least 18 degrees Celsius.

Ceiling and underfloor insulation has been compulsory in all rental homes since 1 July 2019, and the healthy homes insulation standard builds on the current regulations and some existing insulation will need to be topped up or replaced.

Rental homes must have openable windows in the living room, dining room, kitchen and bedrooms, and kitchens and bathrooms must have extractor fans. Rental properties must have efficient drainage for the removal of storm water, surface water and ground water, and those properties with an enclosed sub-floor space must have a ground moisture barrier.

Finally, landlords must make sure the property doesn’t have unreasonable gaps or holes in walls, ceilings, windows, skylights, floors and doors which cause noticeable draughts, and all unused open fireplaces closed off or their chimneys must be blocked to prevent draughts.

Lochore’s Property Management is one of the largest and most experienced property management departments on Auckland’s North Shore, working hard on your behalf to ensure that your rental property is managed to high professional standards, so for more information on Auckland property management and real estate agents please go to https://lochores.co.nz .