The Healthy Homes Standards are a set of minimum requirements for rental properties in New Zealand, set under the Residential Tenancies Act and administered by Tenancy Services. There are five standards in total — heating, insulation, ventilation, moisture and drainage, and draught stopping. This guide covers the one that most often calls for a heat pump: the heating standard.
What the heating standard requires
At its core the heating standard is about one thing: the main living room must be able to be kept warm by heating that is fixed in place, controllable, and sized to the room. Specifically:
- There must be one or more fixed heaters capable of directly heating the main living room. Portable heaters do not count.
- Each qualifying heater must have a heating capacity of at least 1.5 kW.
- The heaters must together meet the required heating capacity calculated for that particular living room.
- The heater must have a thermostat so the temperature can be controlled.
"Main living room" means the room the household would usually spend the most time in — the lounge or living area, not a bedroom or hallway. A heater that warms the hallway but not the living room itself does not satisfy the standard.
Which heaters qualify
Acceptable fixed heating types include:
- Heat pumps (with a thermostat) — by far the most common compliant choice.
- Fixed wood burners and pellet burners.
- Flued gas heaters.
- Certain other fixed systems, including some geothermal heating.
The following do not qualify:
- Portable or plug-in electric heaters of any kind.
- Open fires.
- Unflued combustion heaters, such as portable LPG bottle heaters.
The 1.5 kW and 2.4 kW rules
Two capacity figures matter. First, every qualifying heater must be at least 1.5 kW on its own. Second, there is a threshold at 2.4 kW: where a living room's required heating capacity works out higher than 2.4 kW, a plain electric resistance heater can no longer serve as the main heater. Electric heaters installed before 1 July 2019 may only "top up" qualifying heating in that situation.
In practice, most Auckland living rooms need more than 2.4 kW of heating. That's the reason a correctly sized heat pump is the default answer — it both meets the capacity figure and provides efficient, thermostat-controlled heat.
How the required capacity is worked out
This is the part landlords most often get wrong: there is no single kW figure that applies to every room. The required heating capacity is calculated for each living room individually, taking into account:
- Floor area of the living room.
- Ceiling height.
- The number and type of exterior walls and windows.
- The property's climate zone — Auckland sits in a warmer zone than much of the South Island, so the same-sized room may need less capacity here than further south.
Tenancy Services sets out three ways a landlord can determine the figure: using their online heating assessment tool, applying the regulatory formula in the Healthy Homes Standards regulations, or engaging a professional assessor. Whichever route, the output is a specific required capacity for that room.
Deadlines and current status
The standards were phased in between 1 July 2021 and 1 July 2025, with compliance generally triggered within 120 days of a new or renewed tenancy during that window. Since 1 July 2025, all private rental properties must comply with the Healthy Homes Standards. The final deadline has passed, so this is now fully in force across the board.
If a property doesn't comply, the Tenancy Tribunal can order remedial work and impose financial penalties, generally payable to the tenant — reported awards have reached up to several thousand dollars.
Common reasons rentals fail
- Relying on a portable heater that doesn't qualify.
- An existing heat pump that's undersized for the room's calculated capacity.
- Assuming any electric heater is fine when required capacity exceeds 2.4 kW.
- A heater that warms a bedroom or hallway but not the main living room.
- No thermostat on the heater.
Where we come in
We take the guesswork out of all of this. We assess the required heating capacity for your living room, recommend and install a heat pump that meets or exceeds it, and hand over documentation of the work for your compliance records. Book a free compliance assessment or call us on 09 000 0000 (placeholder number).
Compliance facts on this page are sourced from Tenancy Services (tenancy.govt.nz), the Crown agency administering the Residential Tenancies Act and Healthy Homes Standards, and verified at time of writing. For the authoritative, current detail see the Tenancy Services heating standard page, the 1 July 2025 deadline notice, and the Healthy Homes Standards Regulations 2019. This page does not constitute legal advice.