Many renters live in homes older than colour TV: Landlords, it’s time to upgrade

Tuesday, 1 July 2025

The average rental property managed by Property Brokers was built in 1968.

The year 1968 was one of revolution, protest and flower power. It was also the year the average rental property managed by one of the country’s biggest property management companies was built.

The year that saw the Wahine Disaster, the Tet Offensive in the Vietnam War and the Mexico Olympics was more than half a century ago, and yet many people still rent homes built then, according to a new Property Brokers rental report.

Property Brokers manages more than 8200 residential rentals around the country, but primarily in provincial areas, and the report was based on analysis from a sample of those rentals.

It showed the age of rental stock in the sample ranged from pre-1950s homes in Dunedin and Oamaru, to newer builds from the late 1990s in Cromwell and Lincoln.

Property Brokers general manager of property management David Faulkner said homes dating back to the 1940s were still actively rented, and there was a big mismatch between modern compliance standards and ageing housing stock.

Papamoa in Tauranga had the highest average rent at $697 per week, according to Property Brokers’ report.

Stats NZ’s latest housing report ‒ based on 2023 census data ‒ might say that four out of five houses date from the 1960s onwards, but that was not the case for his company’s rental stock, he said.

“We hear a lot about new homes being built, but in many of the areas we work in not many new builds are going up. For a long time I’ve been looking at the rental stock we manage and thinking it is ageing.

“This report shows the bulk of the rental stock in places like Taumarunui, Tokoroa, Oamaru, Timaru is old and does need to be replenished.”

The oldest housing stock, primarily built before 1920, was most concentrated in regions like Gisborne, West Coast and Otago, while Rolleston and the Selwyn District had the youngest rental stock, due to Christchurch’s post-earthquake rebuild, the report found.

But the age of the stock did not necessarily correlate with lower or high rents, with the highest average rent in Papamoa at $697 per week and the average stock age dating to 1968.

Instead older housing stock correlated with both lower rents, in Gisborne and Dunedin for example, and higher rents, in Kāpiti Coast and Te Puke, for example.

There was a similar variation with newer housing: Wairoa, Westport, and Hokitika had newer, lower-rent homes, while Cromwell and Papamoa had new builds with high rents.

The healthy homes standards have added impetus to efforts to get landlords to upgrade their rentals, Property Brokers’ David Faulkner says.

Across Property Brokers’ rental stock nationwide the average weekly rent was $496.

There were some surprising tenancy duration patterns linked to property age, according to the report.

Overall, the average tenancy length was 30 months, but newer homes tended to have shorter tenancies of about 16 months, while older homes tended to average 22-month tenancies.

But there were some exceptions to this, with newer areas in Cromwell and Carterton having longer tenancies and older homes in New Plymouth having shorter stays.

Faulkner said the final healthy homes standard deadline on July 1 had brought long-overdue attention to housing quality, and added impetus to efforts to get landlords to upgrade their rentals.

The standards, which became law in 2019, set minimum requirements for heating, insulation, ventilation, moisture, drainage and draught-stopping in rental properties. They have been phased in over the years since.

Landlords who fail to comply with the standards face fines of up to $7200 per breach, and also risk being taken to the Tenancy Tribunal where they may be ordered to complete the necessary work regardless of cost or timing.

Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters announced on Monday healthy home standards had now been signed off. (First published May 13, 2019)

Faulkner said retrofitting older rentals to meet compliance was now more urgent than ever, but compliance was not just a box to tick ‒ it was a chance to add long-term value.

A warm, dry, well-ventilated home was more attractive to tenants, encouraged longer stays and could command better returns, he said.

“There will always be tenants paying below market rent who are OK about living in a colder property for a lower rent versus a more energy efficient property that costs more.

“But the cost of non-compliance ‒ from fines to lost income ‒ is far greater than the cost of doing it right. We’re actively working with our landlords to meet the standards and future-proof their investments.”

Property Brokers did not want to manage properties that did not meet the standards, and had been tracking compliance for about two years, he said.

“Our stock will be about 97% compliant by the deadline, but we don’t think we will need to part ways with anyone over it. We’ll stick with our landlords as long as they are committed, and help them to comply.

“But, more generally, I suspect there will be a fair amount of stock, including government and council stock, that does not fully comply.”

Ageing stock was a reality, but it did not have to be a liability and it was worth getting it right, he added.

While it is unclear how many of New Zealand’s 500,000 plus rental properties will meet the standard this week when the final deadline kicks in, experts believe a significant amount will not.