Do Wellington rental properties have to comply with the Healthy Homes Standards?
By Dave McCarry | 6 August 2026
Do Wellington rental properties have to comply with the Healthy Homes Standards?
Yes. Since 1 July 2025, every private rental in New Zealand must comply with all five Healthy Homes Standards at all times, regardless of when the tenancy started. The five standards cover heating, insulation, ventilation, moisture and drainage, and draught stopping. Non-compliance is a breach of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 and can result in fines of up to $7,200 per breach. For Wellington properties (climate Zone 2), ceiling insulation must meet a minimum R2.9 rating and underfloor insulation must meet R1.3.
This is the question I hear regularly from Wellington landlords, especially those who've been self-managing for a few years and haven't had a formal assessment done: "Am I actually compliant with the Healthy Homes Standards?"
The honest answer is: you might not know until someone checks.
The compliance deadlines have passed. Since 1 July 2025, every private rental in New Zealand - every tenancy, whether new or ongoing - must meet all five Healthy Homes Standards at all times. There's no phase-in period left. There's no "I'm working on it" grace period. If your property doesn't meet the standards right now, you're in breach of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986.
This affects landlords across every Wellington suburb: Kelburn villas, Thorndon terraces, Karori family homes, Te Aro apartments, Brooklyn flats. The standards apply regardless of property age, tenancy type, or how long you've owned the place.
Here's what each standard actually requires, and what you need to do.
What the Five Healthy Homes Standards Require
The Healthy Homes Standards aren't a single checkbox. They're five separate legal requirements, and each one can result in a separate fine if breached.
Heating
Your main living room must have a fixed heater capable of warming the room to at least 18°C. The heater needs a minimum of 1.5 kW of heating capacity, calculated for your specific room size using the Tenancy Services online heating assessment tool or a qualified assessor.
If you've installed a heat pump, it needs to meet the standard based on its H2 heating capacity rating, not the nameplate figure. Some older heat pumps installed before the standard came in may not be large enough to comply. Ask your installer for the manufacturer's spec sheet showing the H2 capacity, not just the kW figure on the box.
Portable heaters don't count. The heater must be fixed in place.
Insulation
Wellington is in climate Zone 2, which means:
- Ceiling insulation must meet a minimum R2.9 rating
- Underfloor insulation must meet a minimum R1.3 rating
Insulation installed before 1 July 2016 is unlikely to meet these ratings unless it was updated. Many older Wellington homes, particularly pre-1980s villas and bungalows in Thorndon, Karori, and Kelburn, were built with minimal insulation or have degraded batts that no longer perform to spec. If you haven't had the insulation formally verified recently, don't assume it's compliant.
Ventilation
Every habitable room must have openable windows or doors totalling at least 5% of that room's floor area. Kitchens and bathrooms must have extractor fans ducted directly to the outside.
The "ducted to the outside" requirement catches a lot of landlords out. If the kitchen extractor fan vents into the ceiling cavity rather than outside the building, that's non-compliant. This is a surprisingly common issue in older Wellington homes where fans were retrofitted without proper ductwork.
Moisture and Drainage
Gutters, downpipes, and drainage must be working efficiently and in good order. Where the property has an enclosed subfloor, a ground moisture barrier (polythene sheeting) is required.
Wellington's steep sections and older housing stock mean subfloor moisture is a genuine issue in suburbs like Brooklyn and Kelburn. A cracked or incomplete moisture barrier is one of the most common compliance failures assessors find in Wellington properties.
Draught Stopping
Any unreasonable gaps or holes in walls, ceilings, floors, windows, or doors that allow draughts must be sealed. Unused open fireplaces should have a properly fitting cover installed to prevent heat loss and cold air ingress.
This sounds straightforward, but older Wellington homes can have significant gaps around window frames, skirtings, and pipe penetrations that add up to a meaningful draught problem.
The Compliance Statement Requirement
Every new, renewed, or varied tenancy agreement must include a signed Healthy Homes compliance statement from you, the landlord, or your property manager on your behalf. This statement declares the property's current level of compliance with each of the five standards.
If you don't include this statement when it's required, there's a separate fine of up to $500 per tenancy.
Many self-managing landlords miss this one. The compliance statement isn't a form you fill in once and file away: it needs to accompany every new or renewed agreement. If you're unsure what to include, the Tenancy Services website has a template, but you'll need accurate compliance data from your property to fill it in correctly. Guessing isn't good enough.
If you'd like to understand what's involved in managing your own property, including this kind of ongoing compliance work, our post on when to stop self-managing your Wellington rental property covers the full compliance load landlords are carrying in 2026.
What Happens If You're Not Compliant
The Tenancy Tribunal takes Healthy Homes compliance seriously. Landlords who breach any of the five standards are liable for exemplary damages of up to $7,200 per breach. With five separate standards, the potential exposure is significant.
These aren't just theoretical penalties. Tribunal decisions with Healthy Homes compliance awards have been made against Wellington landlords. In one reported Wellington case, the Tribunal awarded $3,600 to tenants for a compliance breach, a ruling that was covered in the NZ Herald and widely cited in the property management industry.
More commonly, tenants raise a compliance issue directly with Tenancy Services. If an investigation follows and a breach is found, you'll be the one dealing with the outcome. The Tribunal can order both remediation work and exemplary damages in the same hearing.
Healthy Homes breaches sit alongside other serious tenancy compliance matters. Our post on New Zealand's meth contamination regulations covers another area where compliance failures have led to significant Tribunal awards.
Getting a Healthy Homes Assessment in Wellington
If you're not sure whether your property meets all five standards, the most efficient path is a professional Healthy Homes assessment. This is different from a general building inspection: a Healthy Homes assessor specifically evaluates your property against each of the five standards and provides a written compliance report.
In Wellington, assessments typically cost between $250 and $500, depending on the size and complexity of the property. The Sustainability Trust Wellington also offers free or subsidised assessments for eligible landlords and homeowners, so it's worth checking whether your property qualifies before paying commercial rates.
At the end of a professional assessment, you receive an HHS Compliance Certificate that identifies which standards your property meets and which, if any, need attention. That document also gives you the accurate compliance data needed to complete your Healthy Homes statement correctly.
If you manage multiple properties across Wellington, starting with your oldest or most at-risk property makes sense. Pre-1990 housing stock, particularly villas and bungalows in Thorndon, Karori, Brooklyn, and Kelburn, tends to have more compliance gaps than post-2000 builds or new construction.
At Propertyscouts Capital City, we arrange Healthy Homes assessments and coordinate any remediation work as part of our onboarding process. Every property we take on is assessed before the first tenancy begins under our management. That way, you know exactly where things stand from day one, and the compliance statement we provide at tenancy start is accurate.
Your specific obligations depend on your property's age, configuration, and current condition. The only way to know your actual compliance status is to have someone check properly — not to guess based on a general understanding of the standards.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do the Healthy Homes Standards apply to existing tenancies or only new ones?
They apply to all tenancies. Since 1 July 2025, every private rental in New Zealand must meet all five Healthy Homes Standards at all times, regardless of when the tenancy started. If a property falls out of compliance during an existing tenancy, the landlord is in breach of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986.
What insulation R-value does my Wellington rental need to meet?
Wellington is in climate Zone 2. Ceiling insulation must have a minimum R-value of R2.9 and underfloor insulation must meet R1.3. If your insulation predates the Healthy Homes Standards or has degraded over time, you'll need an assessor to verify whether it still meets the rating requirements.
Can I self-assess my property against the Healthy Homes Standards?
You can use Tenancy Services' online resources and checklists to do an initial review, but a self-assessment doesn't produce the formal compliance documentation required for your tenancy agreement. A professional Healthy Homes assessment provides a written certificate confirming compliance status against all five standards, which supports the compliance statement you're required to provide at the start of each tenancy.
What is a Healthy Homes compliance statement and when do I need to include it?
A Healthy Homes compliance statement is a signed declaration from you (or your property manager) describing your property's current level of compliance with the five standards. It must be included with every new, renewed, or varied tenancy agreement. Failing to include it when required carries a separate fine of up to $500 per tenancy.
What's the fine for a Healthy Homes breach in New Zealand?
The Tenancy Tribunal can award exemplary damages of up to $7,200 for each breach of the Healthy Homes Standards. Since there are five separate standards, a property with multiple compliance failures could face multiple separate awards in the same hearing.
Healthy Homes compliance is one of the non-negotiables of being a Wellington landlord in 2026. The deadlines have passed, the penalties are real, and the Tenancy Tribunal has made clear it treats these breaches seriously.
If you'd rather hand this over to someone who handles it every day, including tenant selection, inspections, maintenance, compliance, and rent collection, we'd be happy to talk. Get in touch with Dave at Propertyscouts Capital City.