As the government continues to update parts of its
Healthy Homes standard, Tether chief executive Brandon van
Blerk said independent inspection is critical if most rental
homes are to reach a minimum health standard.
In
April, the Human Rights Commission released the findings of
its inquiry into the Healthy Homes standards.
The
commission advised the government to create an independent
housing authority rather than leave it up to for-profit
inspection companies, which also tend to offer remediation
solutions.
Van Blerk agrees with the commission that
mixing inspection with remediation is “a bit like asking a
mechanic to perform a Warrant of Fitness on your
car.”
He supports the commission’s call for an
“independent rental WOF,” but believes the task can be
done better by instruments, data and software instead of
leaving it in the hands of human
inspectors.
“There’s a lot of tomfoolery happening
in this industry since it is largely unregulated, and anyone
can become a Healthy Home inspector.”
Van Blerk
believes technology is the answer the commission is looking
for, not a new government body.
For example, the
Tether EnviroQ is a simple way to measure the thermal
comfort of a home without the need to become an expert in
ventilation, heating and mathematics. Technology can also be
used to accurately determine a home’s health and
efficiency.
“Our software and technology empower any
property owner to become an inspector. With Tether’s
software, even tenants can do their inspections and send the
report to their landlord.”
“Compliance is normally
a boring process that requires quite a bit of technical
knowledge. But Tether’s tool simplifies all of that,”
van Blerk said.
The Healthy Homes standards apply only
to rental properties and aim to improve the poor quality of
New Zealand’s housing stock. The standards set minimum
requirements for heating, insulation, ventilation, moisture,
drainage and draught-stopping in rental
properties.
The Healthy Home standards entered into
force in July 2019 and have gone through a handful of
regulatory tweaks as landlords and property managers submit
feedback about the requirements.
The regulation’s
latest update, released in May, improved the “heating
calculator” that inspectors use to measure a home’s
heating standards.
Van Blerk said that before the
update, inspectors were incentivised to quote
larger-than-necessary heat pumps for smaller homes in a lazy
attempt to comply with the standards. This could cost
landlords thousands (a 9 KW pump sells for between
$3000-$4000 excluding installation) while drastically
increasing the monthly electricity cost for
tenants.
“We’ve heard some shocking stories from
property managers about quotes from Healthy Home inspection
companies. The aim of their game appears to be to inspect as
many properties as possible by cutting corners and
presenting quotes for heat pumps that are massively
oversized for the house.
“The government’s new
heating calculator hopefully fixes this problem and lowers
the cost of compliance for tenants and landlords,” he
said.
As the government irons out more wrinkles in its
Healthy Home standards, van Blerk said there is plenty that
landlords and property managers can do to improve the health
of homes:
1. Ensure the property complies with
standards
Many houses built after 2008 will likely be
of higher quality, but every home should be checked for
whether they comply with the new standards, van Blerk
said.
“Whether you perform these checks with an
inspector or using Tether’s software, the last thing you
want is to be supplying a bad house for tenants as we move
into winter. You also don’t want to be caught out by the
Tenancy Tribunal for not complying with minimum
standards,” he said.
2. Seek out independent
inspectors
Should a landlord or property manager
choose to use a Healthy Home inspector, that inspection
company should be independent of firms offering remediation
services, van Blerk said.
“An inspection company
will always do what makes a profit. Some will charge a low
cost per inspection but make their money on the remediation
quote. Other companies aren’t attached to any remediation
service but will also charge a higher price. So, there’s
always a trade-off,” van Blerk said.
3. Thermal
comfort
Van Blerk said the best place to start is to
measure the “thermal comfort” of a home, which is the
balance of temperature and humidity in an enclosed
space.
“Getting this balance right is a key factor
in limiting the amount of mould that might grow inside a
poorly ventilated or damp household,” van Blerk
said.
“Improving ventilation is also an important
way to get rid of stale or cold air and the vapour from
cleaning products that harm a person’s respiratory health
– not to mention good ventilation lessens the risk of
contracting viruses like Covid-19.”
For more
information visit: https://www.tether.co.nz/
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