The Real Estate Institute offers advice to landlords on meeting the new deadline
The government has extended the Healthy Homes deadline, giving landlords more time to process their requirements and submit detailed information in their tenancy agreements about how their property meets the Healthy Home Standards.
The government required landlords to submit a statement of their compliance with the Healthy Homes Standards beginning July 01, 2020. However, it decided to extend the deadline to December 01, 2020.
Associate Housing Minister Kris Faafoi explained that landlords need to access their rental properties to complete a compliance statement. However, the lockdown prevented landlords and tradespeople from inspecting rental properties and determining the level of compliance.
“Further delays are likely during Alert Level 2 due to backlogs caused by the lockdown. That's why Cabinet has agreed to delay the requirement until December 01, 2020,” Faafoi said.
“Moving the deadline to December 01, 2020, will mean new tenancies beginning over the summer period in December and February can be incorporated into the statement of the compliance process.”
Read more: REINZ calls for Healthy Homes deadline extension
The Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) has welcomed the extension, advising landlords and property managers to book their inspections at their earliest convenience.
“We are delighted that following months of lobbying with the Associate Minister of Housing and his officials, the feedback provided on behalf of the property management profession has been taken on board,” said REINZ chief executive Bindi Norwell.
“There were significant concerns that compliance statement template wasn't going to be available in time due to the high workload the government has been placed under as a result of COVID-19,” she continued. “The qualified tradespeople who were expected to complete the compliance statements were also unable to complete the high number of inspections still required post-lockdown.”
“The advice we issued to landlords and property managers earlier in the year around not leaving inspections until the last minute still applies – obviously still taking COVID-19 safety and physical distancing requirements into account,” Norwell concluded.
