Tenancy Reforms - July 2019 Edition

[Learning]

I keep them on during the day to make sure they get some use - can't accuse me of not using what I've got

You'll be one of those tenants who only use the heatpump for cooling in summer not to heat in winter. 😋

[Wayne]

You'll be one of those tenants who only use the heatpump for cooling in summer not to heat in winter. 

I have fully ducted - mostly only use in winter for heating because in the summer I can open doors and windows to cool things down (doesn't work to heat things up though - but I swear it is warmer outside today than in).

[Learning]

The connected logic of the points I made only guarantee one thing: increased rents. I also suspect that increased rents will not be the only unintended and undesirable outcome.

Agreed LL's will use it as an excuse to raise rent but if no new standards were passed would rents be any cheaper? Are you saying that no LL who was renting out property that just happened to already meet the new and upcoming standards a year or two ago has or will raise their rent in light of these standards?

[Perry]

Not An Excuse

No. That's sort-of normal.

It's just one of the unintended and undesirable outcomes of socialist gummint meddling in private enterprises.

The price of second cars is 'paced' by the price of new ones. I suspect the same occurs for houses.

If so, why not for rents?

[klauster]

"increased rents will not be the only unintended and undesirable outcome"

In May 2019 I had for a 3br-rental vacancy in Upper Hutt 170 enquiries. It's obvious - supply and demand.
If you upgraded your rental with a couple of $$K - the rent for renters, who just lost their home, is unaffordable, and emergency housing provided by the government becomes unaffordable for taxpayers, too.
If everything is on the same standard - possibly everything has the same price.

Amazing - they didn't figure it out!
Politics to get voters - not solutions.

[artemis]

Story in Stuff today about tenants with a cold home and a sick baby.

"We weren’t supplied with proper heating, there was only a heater plugged into the wall. It did nothing except make the carpet hot so we didn't use it as we didn't want to be blamed for causing a fire."

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/property/114701984/my-cold-rental-made-my-baby-so-sick-we-werent-allowed-to-take-him-home

[Perry]

We weren’t supplied with proper heating, there was only a heater plugged into the wall. It did nothing except make the carpet hot so we didn't use it as we didn't want to be blamed for causing a fire.

Do any reporters ever ask questions?

When did this occur?

What is / was 'proper' heating, at the time? (as defined in then-current legislation)

If it had been a wall-mounted heater, would you have stopped using it on the basis that only made the wall hot?

and we could no longer open the windows.

Why?

Arm paralysis?

Could not be bothered?

and mould was growing rapidly on the walls,

Did you use a gas heater?

Dry laundry inside?

Did you ventilate the dwelling during warm days?

Did you consider a cheap-to-run de-humidifer?

Not only were we living in an unsafe house but they weren’t going to let us leave.

Unsafe? What was unsafe?

Did you contact Heath and Safety?

Etc.

This sort of crap reporting is enough to male any LL sick enough to spew.

[Keys]

Won't increase the rent I charge because all my houses already have heating - always have.

Many of my clients are the same as you. However, the heat pumps which they installed are too small now, or in the wrong room, and need augmenting or replacing.

[Wayne]

Many of my clients are the same as you. However, the heat pumps which they installed are too small now, or in the wrong room, and need augmenting or replacing.

Mine are in the lounge/ living room (was always the logical place for them) and were sized professionally.
I wonder how accurate/ practical the heating calculator is? Though the calculator says they are too small, in practise, are they capable of doing the job?

I suspect some people install size wise based on price rather than what the professional says they should be.

[Learning]

Mine are in the lounge/ living room (was always the logical place for them) and were sized professionally.
I wonder how accurate/ practical the heating calculator is? Though the calculator says they are too small, in practise, are they capable of doing the job?

I suspect some people install size wise based on price rather than what the professional says they should be.

The heatpump I put in the small 2bed flat livingroom was more than enough to keep the livingroom nice and toasty on the coldest nights. But there's an open hallway that leads past the bathroom, laundry and into the kitchen. So the new standard requires me to upgrade my heatpump to heat the livingroom, hallway and kitchen. In my approximation to get the kitchen upto 18c the livingroom needs to be about 48c.

Luckily I only need to install an internal door to separate the areas. I feel for those with open staircases in their livingrooms.

[Wayne]

The heatpump I put in the small 2bed flat livingroom was more than enough to keep the livingroom nice and toasty on the coldest nights. But there's an open hallway that leads past the bathroom, laundry and into the kitchen. So the new standard requires me to upgrade my heatpump to heat the livingroom, hallway and kitchen. In my approximation to get the kitchen upto 18c the livingroom needs to be about 48c.

Luckily I only need to install an internal door to separate the areas. I feel for those with open staircases in their livingrooms.

Quite right - the heat won't travel down the hall to make the kitchen 18deg.

[Learning]

Quite right - the heat won't travel down the hall to make the kitchen 18deg.

My example shows what Keys was talking about. A perfectly good heatpump of the right size for the area it was installed to heat might not be adequate once you've applied the new standard.

If, like me, your livingroom opens up in to other spaces then it needs to be big enough to heat all of those spaces, or you'll need to be able to close off those spaces.

If you've installed a large heatpump in the diningroom to blow warmth through the open French doors in to the livingroom, then you'll need to either remove the French doors or install a second heatpump in the livingroom.

[Perry]

And what about those extractor fans, expelling all that expensive warm air outside?

[Bob Kane]

Luckily I only need to install an internal door to separate the areas. I feel for those with open staircases in their livingrooms.

This will be one of the unintended consequences - landlords of open plan lounge/dining/kitchen houses may block out the lounge just to shrink the heated area.

[flyernzl]

I certainly will.