Healthy Homes 2025 Deadline: What Landlords Need to Know—and What They’re Getting Wrong
The clock is ticking. By 1 July 2025, all private rental properties in New Zealand must comply with the Healthy Homes Standards. Landlords are busy checking boxes, installing fixed heaters, replacing extractor fans, and laying down insulation. But here’s the problem: many are still getting it wrong—despite technically following the rules.
At BEO Buildingscience, we’ve assessed compliant homes that are still cold, damp, and uncomfortable. If you’re treating Healthy Homes as a checklist rather than a performance target, you could be wasting money, upsetting tenants, or risking fines. Worse, you could miss the opportunity to create a rental that truly performs—lowering your costs and improving tenant retention long-term.
In this blog, we’ll break down what compliance actually requires, where most landlords go wrong, and how to do it properly using smart building science.
What the Healthy Homes Standards Cover (And Don’t)
The standards set minimum requirements in five areas:
1. Heating
Every main living room must have a fixed heater capable of maintaining 18°C in typical winter conditions.
2. Insulation
Ceiling and underfloor insulation must meet minimum R-values for the home’s climate zone.
3. Ventilation
All bedrooms, living areas, and dining rooms must have openable windows. Kitchens and bathrooms must have extractor fans.
4. Moisture Ingress and Drainage
Properties must have efficient drainage systems and moisture barriers under enclosed subfloor areas.
5. Draught Stopping
Gaps or holes in windows, doors, walls, or floors that let in draughts must be blocked.
Sounds simple enough, right? In reality, many landlords are missing the forest for the trees.
Where Most Landlords Get It Wrong
❌ Treating the Calculator Like Gospel
The heating calculator provided by Tenancy Services is a tool—not a design guide. It makes assumptions about airtightness, insulation quality, and solar gain. If your property has unexpected air leakage or poor installation, the recommended heater may underperform.
❌ Only Heating One Room
Yes, the requirement is for the main living room, but people live in entire homes. When bedrooms drop to 12–14°C overnight, tenants resort to unflued gas heaters, plug-in panels, or drying clothes indoors. The result? Condensation, mould, and complaints.
❌ Installing Equipment Without Testing the House
A new heat pump won’t fix the fact that warm air leaks through skirting boards, or that your bathroom fan isn’t actually venting outside. Systems must be paired with airtightness and ventilation strategies—or they won’t work properly.
❌ Thinking ‘Compliant’ Means ‘Comfortable’
Compliance is the bare minimum. It doesn’t promise thermal comfort, health outcomes, or low power bills. We see it all the time: a compliant home where occupants still feel cold, damp, and frustrated.
"The house passed Healthy Homes. But it never felt warm. We were still using dehumidifiers every night."
— Tenant, Dunedin
Why Healthy Homes Compliance Needs a Performance Approach
Healthy Homes standards were designed to lift the worst-performing rentals—but they don’t account for how buildings really behave. At BEO Buildingscience, we go beyond checklist compliance by evaluating the actual performance of your home in real conditions.
Our aim is to help you comply smarter—while creating rentals that tenants love to live in.
Common Compliance Failures We See (That Still “Pass”)
1. Undersized or Poorly Placed Heaters
Even if a unit meets the kW requirement, poor placement can mean the heat never reaches where it’s needed.
2. Extractor Fans That Don’t Extract
Installed fans may be undersized, unvented, or rarely used. We test actual airflow and humidity levels to check effectiveness.
3. Insulation That Doesn’t Perform
Yes, there’s insulation—but it’s squashed, bridged by framing, or installed with gaps.
4. Air Leakage Undoing All Your Efforts
A heater won’t work properly if warm air is escaping through cracks, holes, or recessed downlights. Blower door testing shows exactly where the leaks are.
5. Unheated Spaces Causing Systemic Problems
When only the living room is heated, surrounding rooms stay cold and drive condensation. The warm air meets cold surfaces and creates moisture.
The Real-World Risks of Misguided Compliance
High Tenant Turnover
Cold, damp homes lead to unhappy tenants. That leads to higher vacancy rates and costly re-letting processes.
Rising Maintenance Costs
Moisture problems result in mould, rot, and structural damage. Fixing these issues later is more expensive than doing it right upfront.
Noncompliance Claims
Even if you tick the compliance box today, performance issues could still trigger Tenancy Tribunal claims or be caught in future audits.
Wasted Investment
Upgrading insulation or heaters without understanding the whole system can lead to expensive improvements with underwhelming results.
A Better Way to Comply: Building Science Assessments
At BEO Buildingscience, we assess compliance as part of a whole-home performance review. We align Clause H1 (energy), G4 (ventilation), and E3 (moisture) to deliver healthy, comfortable spaces that exceed minimum standards.
Our Process Includes:
Initial consultation to understand the property and concerns, including a review of current compliance and tenant complaints
Energy Modelling to predict how the home performs under real climate conditions
On-site testing such as blower door testing to measure air leakage and find draughts
Clause alignment: H1 (energy), G4 (ventilation), and E3 (moisture) reviewed holistically
Custom report with data and prioritised upgrade recommendations
Our recommendations are actionable and practical—whether you need quick fixes before the 2025 deadline or a phased retrofit plan for long-term value.
Optional Add-Ons:
Hygrothermal (WUFI) modelling to evaluate moisture risks inside walls and roofs
Thermal bridge calculations to assess weak points in your insulation strategy
Ventilation design and commissioning guidance to ensure your systems actually work
Blower door testing after upgrades to verify improvements and document compliance
What Landlords Gain From a Performance-Based Approach
✅ Better Tenant Retention
Comfortable tenants stay longer and take better care of the property.
✅ Future-Proof Compliance
Regulations will continue to evolve. Our assessments ensure you stay ahead of the curve.
✅ Strategic Investment
You’ll know which upgrades actually deliver ROI—in energy, maintenance, and occupancy.
✅ Confidence and Documentation
Our post-upgrade testing and reports provide evidence for compliance and future resale.
"We thought we were compliant, but it didn’t feel that way. BEO showed us where the gaps were, and helped us prioritise what actually mattered. Now our tenants are happier, and we’re not wasting power anymore."
— Grant L., Property Owner, Christchurch
"Denise and the team made it easy to see what was worth upgrading and what wasn’t. The place feels warmer, the bills are down, and the tenants are staying put. That’s a win."
— Karen T., Landlord, Tauranga
Book Your Building Science Assessment Today
Don’t wait until June 2025 to find out your compliant property isn’t performing. A proactive assessment now gives you time to make meaningful improvements before the deadline—and avoid rushed, expensive fixes.
Let us help you:
Meet Healthy Homes requirements the smart way
Improve comfort and performance beyond minimums
Protect your investment with real building science
Book Your Assessment now to secure your spot before the 2025 rush.
Conclusion: Don’t Let a Calculator Decide Comfort
A ticked box doesn’t mean a warm, dry home. If you want to move beyond bare minimums and build a property that delivers comfort, health, and value, BEO Buildingscience is here to help.
BEO Buildingscience — Because compliance is just the beginning.
