The five standards, measured and written down.
Every rental in the country has had to meet the healthy homes standards since 1 July 2025, farm accommodation included. Our healthy homes compliance partner, Brightr, measures your house against all five standards and provides the written record you’re required to hold — and we tell you plainly where it sits.
The work is usually done. The paperwork isn’t.
In our experience the insulation is in, the heat pump is on the wall, and the extractor fan works. What’s missing is anything in writing that proves it — and under the healthy homes standards, the proof is your obligation, not your tenant’s.
You must keep records showing how the property meets each of the five standards, and you must supply them to a tenant within 21 days of them asking. Every new, renewed or varied tenancy agreement also has to carry a signed compliance statement setting out where the property stands.
Get it wrong and the exposure is real: penalties reach $7,200 for failing to meet the standards, with a further penalty of up to $500 per tenancy where the compliance statement is left out of the agreement.
The main living room must be heatable to 18°C by a fixed heater. Portable electric heaters, open fires and unflued gas heaters don’t count towards it.
The whole South Island sits in climate zone 3 — the coldest band. Ceiling insulation must reach R 3.3 and underfloor R 1.3.
days
Your deadline to supply compliance records once a tenant asks. You can’t produce records you never made.
Maximum penalty for failing to meet the standards, plus up to $500 per tenancy where the compliance statement is missing from the agreement.
Five standards, and what each one means for your cottage.
Not a tick-box walk-through — measurements, photographs and a written finding against every standard.
1. Heating
The main living room needs one or more fixed heaters able to heat it to 18°C, sized to the room and at least 1.5 kW. Heat pumps, woodburners, pellet burners, flued gas and compliant fixed electric heaters qualify. Open fires, portable electric heaters and unflued LPG heaters do not.
2. Insulation
Ceiling and underfloor insulation to at least R 3.3 and R 1.3 respectively — Central Otago is in climate zone 3, the coldest band, so the ceiling requirement here is higher than most of the North Island.
3. Ventilation
Every liveable room needs openable windows, doors or skylights totalling at least 5% of that room’s floor area. Kitchens need an extractor fan of at least 150mm diameter or 50 litres per second; bathrooms at least 120mm or 25 litres per second, venting outside.
4. Moisture ingress and drainage
Efficient drainage, guttering and downpipes to carry stormwater and surface water away from the house, and a ground moisture barrier where there’s an enclosed subfloor. Farm houses fail this one more than any other.
5. Draught stopping
Unreasonable gaps and holes in walls, ceilings, windows, floors and doors that cause noticeable draughts must be blocked, and any unused open fireplace closed off or removed.
The coldest climate zone, and the oldest houses.
Central Otago sits in climate zone 3, which carries the highest ceiling insulation requirement in the country.
It also has some of the sharpest frosts and the biggest daily temperature swings, in a district where a good share of the farm housing stock went up long before anyone was thinking about R-values.
That combination means a house here has to work harder to reach the same standard as an identical house in Northland. It also means the gains are bigger — the difference between a cottage that limps to 15°C and one that holds 18°C is the difference between a staff member who stays and one who doesn’t.
What trips farm houses up here
The findings we write up most often.
- Heat pumps sized for a bedroom, installed in a living room
- Ceiling insulation pulled aside by an electrician years ago and never replaced
- No ground moisture barrier under an enclosed subfloor
- Spouting that overflows every time it rains hard
- Bathroom fans ducted into the ceiling space rather than outside
- An open fireplace nobody has used since the heat pump went in
A written position on every standard, and a list you can act on.
Measured, photographed and documented — not a walk-round and an opinion.
- Assessment booked and coordinated with Brightr on your behalf
- All five healthy homes standards measured by Brightr
- Heating capacity for the main living room
- Ceiling and underfloor insulation and R-values
- Ventilation openings and extractor fan testing
- Drainage, guttering and subfloor moisture
- Room-by-room draught assessment
- Photographs of every finding
- Written compliance report, emailed and stored securely
- The wording you need for your compliance statement
- A plain-English explanation of where you stand and what to do next
If the house complies
- The documentation you’re legally required to hold
- Ready to hand a tenant inside the 21-day window
- Compliance statement wording for your next agreement
- That’s the whole job done
If it doesn’t
- A plain list of what’s missing
- Sorted into before-anyone-moves-in and can-wait
- A referral to Brightr for insulation, heating and moisture barriers
Before someone moves in, not after.
There’s no grace period any more. The house has to comply from the first day of the tenancy.
The cheapest time to find out
If the house needs a heat pump or a moisture barrier, you want to know while you’re still writing the job ad — not the week your new staff member is driving down with a trailer.
You need the statement
Every new, renewed or varied agreement must carry a signed compliance statement. The assessment gives you the wording and the evidence behind it.
The 21-day clock
If a staff member requests your compliance records you have 21 days to produce them. Booking an assessment at that point is tight. Booking one now isn’t.
$289 for the house, whatever size it is.
One flat fee, because the five standards are the same five standards in a two-bedroom cottage and a five-bedroom homestead.
- Travel included. The $289 covers the assessment and the report wherever your property is in Central Otago. There is no kilometre charge on a healthy homes assessment.
- Multiple houses? Farms with more than one dwelling are quoted together as a package and scheduled in a single visit.
- Price agreed before we begin. You’ll have the full price confirmed before we drive out.
- Turnaround. The report follows within a couple of working days of the visit, and anything urgent gets a phone call the same day.
- If work is needed. We talk you through what was found and what it takes to put right. You’re free to use your own tradespeople.
Healthy homes, answered.
Does this really apply to a house that comes with the job?
Yes. A house provided as part of an employment agreement is a service tenancy, and a service tenancy is a residential tenancy under the Residential Tenancies Act. The healthy homes standards apply in full, including where the staff member pays no rent at all.
Is this the same as a routine inspection?
No. A routine inspection notes healthy homes concerns if we happen to see them, but it isn’t a measured assessment. This is the formal one — capacity calculations, R-values, fan ratings and openable areas — and it’s what produces documentation that stands up.
What if the house doesn’t pass?
Then you know, which is the point. You get a prioritised list separating what must be done before a tenancy starts from what can be planned for. We don’t do the physical work ourselves; we’ll refer you to Brightr for assessments, insulation and moisture barriers, and you’re free to use your own tradespeople instead.
Can I get Warmer Kiwi Homes funding for the work?
Not for a rental. Warmer Kiwi Homes grants are for homeowners living in the home they own — rental properties and homes owned by businesses are excluded. If you live in the homestead yourself and meet the criteria you may qualify for that house, but your staff cottages won’t. Budget for the work as a property cost.
Do I need one for every house on the farm?
Every house that’s tenanted, yes — each one is a separate tenancy with its own compliance position. We’ll do them in a single visit and quote them together, so the marginal cost of the second and third house is much lower than the first.
How long does it take?
Brightr are on site for about 90 minutes for a typical farm cottage, and the report follows within a couple of working days. If we find something that needs attention before anyone moves in, we’ll ring you the same day rather than let you read it in a report.
Find out where your houses actually stand.
Tell us how many properties and where you are. We’ll quote the lot and give you a written position on every one.