Tenants most often sought the recovery of a bond, damages due to landlords breaching obligations and compliance with Healthy Home standards. (File photo) Photo: 123RF
About a quarter of all tenant applications to the Tenancy Tribunal relate to concerns about Healthy Homes standards, but industry commentators say most landlords are meeting obligations.
In its latest annual report, the Tenancy Tribunal said there were 29,309 applications made to it in 2024, up 14 percent compared to 2023 and up 43 percent compared to 2022.
About three-quarters came from landlords and 66 percent of all claims related to rent arrears.
Tenants most often sought the recovery of a bond, damages due to landlords breaching their obligations, or compliance with Healthy Homes standards.
From July 1 this year, all rental properties had to comply with Healthy Homes rules, which set minimum standards for heating, ventilation and insulation.
Tenants living in a home that is not compliant could take their concerns to the Tenancy Tribunal.
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, said in 2024, 1412 applications to the tribunal related to a Healthy Homes concerns.
In the 2025 financial year, it was 1394.
Economist Ed McKnight, from property investment firm Opes Partners, said this was a factor in about 29 percent of tenants' complaints.
"That sounds high. But there are approximately 600,000 rental properties in New Zealand.
"So only 0.2 percent of rental properties had a tenancy complaint regarding the Healthy Homes Standards."
He said the numbers indicated property investors had taken the rules seriously.
Matt Ball, a spokesperson for the NZ Property Investors Federation, said the number of applications should start to drop now that all rental properties were required to be covered.
But Sarina Gibbon, general manager of the Auckland Property Investors Association, said there could be "systemic illiteracy" about the standards, and tenants might not feel they could push back.
Sarina Gibbon, general manager of the Auckland Property Investors Association said tenants may feel as though they cannot push back against landlords. (File photo) Photo: Supplied
"The power imbalance inherent in tenancy relationships is not abstract. It's basically a butter knife we put in tenants' hands and say, 'There, go fight your battles.'
"I can go on and on about the systemic illiteracy; it is pretty endemic - I see it everywhere, among landlords, tenants, property managers, vendors, assessors, and real estate agents. There's a lot of bad [Healthy Homes] information in the marketplace and it is concerning how many landlords are relying on them as professional advice."
Ball said the big increase in applications overall was probably driven in part by an increase in the number of people renting.
"Active bonds increased from 374,298 at the start of 2020 to 424,383 at the end of 2024, a 13 percent increase. Over the same period tribunal applications went up 31 percent, so this is close to half of the reason."
He said the tribunal now offered a wider range of options to resolve disputes, which were faster and cheaper than a full hearing and could make it more likely that people would lodge an application.
"For example, both fast-track resolution and mediation provide a faster way to resolve a dispute and are increasingly used by both parties. It's interesting to note that the percentage of applications which actually required a hearing fell from 50 percent in 2020 to 44 percent in 2024."
Overall, in 2024, tribunal hearings for residential tenancy cases were conducted on average just under 10 weeks after filing.
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