More than 67,000 Kāinga Ora homes now meet Healthy Homes Standards

Healthy Homes Standards were introduced in 2019 to help ensure the quality of all tenanted rental homes throughout New Zealand meet minimum standards for heating, insulation, ventilation, moisture ingress (dampness) and drainage, and draught stopping.

Kāinga Ora and Community Housing Providers were asked to comply with the Standards by 1 July 2024, one year ahead of private property owners.

Nick Maling, General Manager National Services, explains the work Kāinga Ora has undertaken.

“As New Zealand’s largest property owner, our Healthy Homes delivery programme has been our most significant planned maintenance programme to date in terms of breadth, complexity and volume. At the height of the programme, we were completing Healthy Homes improvements in 600 homes per day,” says Nick.

“It has been a huge task, and most importantly it has had an enormous positive impact on the lives of people who call their Kāinga Ora property home. Over 190,000 people and whānau are now enjoying the benefits of these improvements.”

Less than 0.2% of tenanted Kāinga Ora homes are yet to be completed. Several homes will be completed as we resolve challenges with accessing the property.

“Of the very few homes we are working through, the majority have come into our Healthy Homes delivery pipeline within the weeks and days leading up to the compliance date of 1 July,” says Nick.

“These are homes that were exempt from meeting the Standards due to planned redevelopment, which is no longer proceeding as we now work to align our build and redevelopment programme with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development’s Public Housing Plan. Our maintenance partners are working to complete all required Healthy Homes improvements in these homes as quickly as possible.”

As part of our routine annual property inspections, checks will be added to ensure our homes remain compliant with the Standards.

In the four and a half years to 1 July 2024, we have installed the following improvements in Kāinga Ora homes:

• 2.4 million square meters of ceiling insulation
• 2.7 million square meters of under floor insulation
• 84,000 square meters of new carpet
• 40,000 new heat pumps
• 11,000 new rangehoods
• 11,000 new extractor fans