Healthy Homes · Guide
The Healthy Homes standards, explained (2026)
All five New Zealand Healthy Homes standards for private rentals, in plain English — heating, insulation, ventilation, moisture & drainage, and draught stopping. What each one requires, the numbers that matter, and what an assessment actually checks on site.
Last checked August 2026 · Confirm the detail against Tenancy Services — the regulations are the final word.
New Zealand's Healthy Homes standards set minimum requirements for heating, insulation, ventilation, moisture and drainage, and draught stopping in private rental homes. They became law in 2019 and phased in over several years — and since 1 July 2025 all private rentals have been required to comply. So this is now live, not upcoming.
This guide walks through each of the five standards in plain English, gives you the numbers that most often decide a pass or fail, and shows what a proper assessment checks. It's informational, not a compliance certificate — always confirm the detail against Tenancy Services, because the regulations are the authority.
The five standards
- Heating — a fixed heater that can reach 18 °C
- Insulation — ceiling & underfloor R-values
- Ventilation — openable windows & extractor fans
- Moisture ingress & drainage — guttering & a ground moisture barrier
- Draught stopping — blocking gaps & unused chimneys
Who they apply to: private residential tenancies. Boarding houses and some other tenancy types have their own timelines and details, and specific exemptions can apply — so if you're unsure whether a property is covered, check with Tenancy Services rather than assuming.
1 Heating
Heating is the standard people get wrong most, because it's the one with real maths behind it. The rule isn't "have a heater" — it's "have a fixed heater that can heat the main living room to 18 °C," and the required capacity is calculated from the room's floor area, its windows and glazing, and where in the country it is (there's a formula in Schedule 2 of the regulations).
A few rules worth knowing before anyone buys a heater:
- The main heater generally must be at least 1.5 kW.
- If the required capacity comes out above 2.4 kW, you can't rely on a fixed electric resistance heater as the main source — a heat pump is the exception. This is why heat pumps are so common in compliance.
- Open fires, unflued gas heaters and portable heaters don't count as compliant heating.
Because the capacity number is a straight pass/fail, work it out with the official Heating Assessment Tool rather than eyeballing it — Tenancy Services warns that other tools can't guarantee the same result.
2 Insulation
For homes consented before 3 November 2022, the minimums are:
- Ceiling: R-2.9 in climate zones 1–2, R-3.3 in zone 3.
- Underfloor: R-1.3 in all zones.
There's an allowance for existing insulation: ceiling insulation installed before 1 July 2016 can still be acceptable if it's at least 120 mm thick and in reasonable condition. Homes consented on or after 3 November 2022 are assessed against the Building Code instead — so the first thing to establish is which regime the home falls under.
3 Ventilation
- Every habitable room needs openable windows/doors/skylights totalling at least 5% of the room's floor area.
- Kitchens need an extractor fan venting outside — at least 150 mm diameter, or ≥ 50 L/s, for fans installed since 1 July 2019.
- Bathrooms need an extractor fan venting outside — at least 120 mm diameter, or ≥ 25 L/s, for fans installed since 1 July 2019.
The catch on site is that fans have to vent to the outside — a fan that just pushes air into the ceiling space doesn't satisfy the standard.
4 Moisture ingress & drainage
The home needs efficient drainage for surface and storm water, along with working guttering, downpipes and drains. Where there's an enclosed subfloor, a ground moisture barrier must be installed to stop damp rising into the home. On site this one rewards a look under the house: a missing or torn barrier, or pooling water in the subfloor, is a common fail.
5 Draught stopping
Obvious gaps and holes that cause noticeable draughts must be blocked — think unsealed gaps around windows and doors, or holes left by old fittings. Unused open fireplaces and chimneys must be blocked too (unless the tenant agrees otherwise). It's the simplest standard, but it's easy to miss the chimney.
What a compliant assessment actually checks
A good Healthy Homes assessment walks the property in the order the standards fall, records the exact figure or condition for each — the heater's rated kW and the tool's required capacity, the insulation type and R-value, fan sizes, the ground moisture barrier — and captures evidence as it goes: photos, readings, product labels and dates. Where something can't be established on a visual walk-through, an honest assessment says so and recommends further investigation by a specialist — it never guesses a conclusion.
Common failure points
- Heating undersized. A 2.4 kW-plus room "heated" by a fixed electric heater, or by a portable/open fire that doesn't count at all.
- Underfloor barrier missing. An enclosed subfloor with no ground moisture barrier — easy to miss without going under the house.
- Fans venting into the roof. An extractor that vents into the ceiling cavity rather than outside.
- Wrong insulation regime. Assessing a post-3 Nov 2022 home against the R-value table instead of the Building Code (or vice-versa).
- Openable-area shortfall. A habitable room whose openable windows don't reach 5% of the floor area.
Doing these on real properties?
HammerHand turns a voice-and-photo walkthrough into a defensible Healthy Homes report — numeric pass/fail against each standard, heating and R-value helpers built in, evidence attached to every finding, and it works offline on site. No evening retyping.
Frequently asked questions
What are the five Healthy Homes standards?
Heating, insulation, ventilation, moisture ingress and drainage, and draught stopping. Together they set minimum requirements for private rental homes, enforced under the Residential Tenancies Act.
Do the standards apply to all rentals now?
They apply to private residential tenancies and phased in from 2019, with all private rentals required to comply since 1 July 2025 — so compliance is live. Some tenancy types have their own details and exemptions can apply, so confirm the current position with Tenancy Services.
What heater counts for the heating standard?
A fixed heater that can warm the main living room to 18 °C, sized from the room's area, glazing and location. The main heater generally must be at least 1.5 kW; above a 2.4 kW requirement you can't use a fixed electric resistance heater (heat pumps are the exception); and open fires, unflued gas and portable heaters don't count. Use the official Heating Assessment Tool for the exact figure.
What insulation is required?
For homes consented before 3 November 2022: ceiling R-2.9 (zones 1–2) or R-3.3 (zone 3), and underfloor R-1.3. Pre-1 July 2016 ceiling insulation of at least 120 mm in good condition can be acceptable. Homes consented on or after 3 November 2022 are assessed against the Building Code.
Is a checklist enough to prove compliance?
No — a checklist is a starting point. Compliance is proven by a proper assessment against the regulations, with evidence recorded for each standard, plus a Healthy Homes compliance statement kept with the tenancy documents.
This guide explains the standards in plain English; it doesn't replace the Healthy Homes Standards regulations or an assessor's professional judgement. Figures last checked August 2026 — regulations change, so re-verify at tenancy.govt.nz before relying on them. For heating capacity, use the official Heating Assessment Tool.
Related: Free Healthy Homes checklist · Healthy Homes inspection app · NZS 4306 report software