What happens if a rental doesn't meet the Healthy Homes standards?

Failing to meet the standards is a breach of the Residential Tenancies Act. The sharpest consequence runs through the Tenancy Tribunal: a tenant can bring a case, and the Tribunal can order the work done and award financial penalties, exemplary damages, against the landlord. The current maximums live on tenancy.govt.nz; they are set at a level that makes fixing the house the cheaper option.

It is not only tenants who can act

Tenancy Services has a compliance and investigations function that can pursue landlords directly, and it has shown particular interest in landlords with portfolios of non-compliant properties. The compliance statement requirement also means every new tenancy agreement puts the property's position in writing: signing a statement that misdescribes compliance is its own problem, separate from the underlying breach.

The quieter costs

• Cold, damp homes churn tenants, and vacancies cost more than heat pumps.
• Insurance claims and disputes get harder when the property's records are thin.
• A documented compliance file is becoming part of what buyers expect to see when a rental sells.

The pattern across all of it: the downside is concentrated on landlords who cannot show what state the property is in. Records, statements, invoices and dated photos are both the compliance evidence and most of the defence.