Explanatory note
This Supplementary Order Paper (the SOP) proposes amendments to the Healthy Homes Guarantee Bill (No 2) (the Bill), which contains amendments to the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 (the principal Act). The amendments proposed by the SOP include policy clarifications, amendments to take account of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2016 (which superseded some of the original drafting of the Bill), amendments dealing with monitoring and assessment of compliance, and minor and technical changes.
The SOP proposes amendments to clause 2, which is the commencement clause. These amendments provide for most of the Bill to come into force on 1 July 2019. The transitional provisions for the Bill (see note on the Schedule below, amendments to Schedule 1AA of the principal Act), and some technical amendments proposed in new clause 8(2) and (3), will come into force on the day after the date of Royal assent.
The SOP proposes amendments to clause 4, which amends section 13A of the principal Act (contents of tenancy agreement). The proposed amendments clarify a landlord’s obligations to provide the tenant with statements that the landlord will comply with the healthy homes standards (see note on amendments to clause 6 below). The landlord will be required to provide a statement when the tenancy agreement is first signed and whenever the tenancy agreement is varied or renewed in accordance with section 13B of the principal Act. The landlord will commit an unlawful act if the landlord fails to provide the statement or if the statement includes anything that the landlord knows to be false or misleading.
The SOP proposes amendments to clause 5, which amends section 45 of the principal Act (landlord’s responsibilities). The proposed amendments are in consequence of the proposed amendments to clause 6 and will require landlords to comply with the healthy homes standards (see note on amendments to clause 6 below). A failure by a landlord to comply with the healthy homes standards will be an unlawful act.
The SOP proposes amendments to clause 6, which currently inserts new section 132A into the principal Act. New section 132A would impose a function on the Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment (MBIE) to prepare and publish minimum standards for heating and insulation for residential premises. The proposed amendments to clause 6 include amendments that would do the following:
convert MBIE’s function into a power of the Governor-General to make regulations that provide for standards (the healthy homes standards) with which landlords must comply:
provide for the new power to replace the current power of the Governor-General in section 138B of the principal Act to impose requirements on landlords in respect of insulation, which was inserted by the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2016. Requirements in respect of insulation will now be covered by the healthy homes standards:
clarify that the healthy homes standards may include standards about the indoor temperatures, and other outcomes (for example, levels of moisture and humidity), that must be capable of being achieved in premises:
permit regulations made under the new power to include exceptions to the healthy homes standards, to prescribe information that must be included in landlords’ statements about compliance with the healthy homes standards (see note on amendments to clause 4 above), and to prescribe records and other documents that landlords must retain in relation to their compliance with the healthy homes standards.
Clause 7 amends Schedule 1A of the principal Act (maximum amounts awardable by the Tenancy Tribunal for unlawful acts). The SOP proposes replacing clause 7(1) in consequence of the amendments proposed to clause 4. The amendments proposed to clause 7(2) would increase, from $3,000 to $4,000, the maximum amount that may be awarded for unlawful acts under section 45(1A) of the principal Act, including a failure by a landlord to comply with the healthy homes standards. This maximum amount was increased, from $3,000 to $4,000, by the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2016 and it is not the intention of the Bill to reverse that increase.
The SOP proposes a number of related and consequential amendments to the principal Act that are set out in the Schedule (introduced by new clause 8(1)). The amendments include the following:
an amendment to section 66I of the principal Act to extend the healthy homes standards to boarding house tenancies (and a consequential amendment to Schedule 1A of the principal Act):
amendments to sections 2(1), 48(2), 66S(1), and 78(2AA) of the principal Act to reflect the proposed replacement of the current power under section 138B of the principal Act to impose requirements in respect of insulation with the new power to provide for the healthy homes standards (see note on amendments to clause 6 above):
an amendment to section 123(1) of the principal Act to give the chief executive of MBIE the function of monitoring and assessing compliance by landlords with the healthy homes standards. This new function is supplemented with the insertion of new section 123CA into the principal Act (and related amendments to section 123E of the principal Act). This would give the chief executive of MBIE the power to arrange programmes of inspections of premises for the purpose of monitoring and assessing compliance with the healthy homes standards:
an amendment to section 123A(1) of the principal Act to require landlords to retain prescribed records and other documents relating to their compliance with the healthy homes standards:
amendments to Schedule 1AA of the principal Act, which contains transitional provisions. The transitional provisions proposed for the Bill include the following:
a provision clarifying that the amendments made by the Bill apply to tenancies whether commencing before, on, or after the date on which the amendments come into force:
provisions clarifying that the amendments made by the Bill relating to statements to be provided by landlords (see note on amendments to clause 4 above) apply to a tenancy agreement made before 1 July 2019 only if the tenancy agreement is varied or renewed on or after that date:
provisions that permit regulations to provide for the obligation of landlords to comply with the healthy homes standards to be introduced in phases. The regulations made for the purpose of phasing in the obligation will cover tenancies that commence before 1 July 2024. The phasing-in of the obligation must be completed by that date:
provisions that permit regulations providing for the healthy homes standards to be made in advance of 1 July 2019 (to come into force on that date):
provisions that give landlords rights of access to premises before 1 July 2019 for the purpose of preparing to comply with the healthy homes standards:
provisions that clarify that landlords will continue to have rights of access to premises prior to 1 July 2019 in relation to the insulation requirements contained in the Residential Tenancies (Smoke Alarms and Insulation) Regulations 2016:
other provisions relating to the insulation requirements contained in the Residential Tenancies (Smoke Alarms and Insulation) Regulations 2016. It is currently envisaged that, on 1 July 2019, requirements relating to insulation will be incorporated into the healthy homes standards and that the insulation requirements contained in the 2016 regulations will be revoked.
Departmental disclosure statement
The Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment is required to prepare a disclosure statement to assist with the scrutiny of this Supplementary Order Paper. It provides access to information about any material policy changes to the Bill and identifies any new significant or unusual legislative features of the Bill as amended.