Edmonds Judd

Politics & Government

Property Briefs

Healthy home standards compliance from 1 July 2025

First introduced in 2019, healthy home standards are the minimum legal standards expected of rental properties in New Zealand. These include:

  • Heating (provision of functioning and fixed (not portable), heaters in the main living room)
  • Ceiling and underfloor insulation, and
  • Adequate ventilation (functioning doors and windows, and extractor fans in the kitchen and bathrooms).

From 1 July 2025, all landlords are responsible for ensuring their rental properties comply with healthy homes standards (and continue to comply with them over time). Landlords who do not comply will be in breach of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 and can be penalised up to $7,200 per breach. Landlords who are ignorant of these changes or disorganised will not be excused.

Landlords in new or renewed tenancy agreements must include a signed statement detailing the property’s compliance with the standards. Failing to do so can result in a penalty. There are also penalties to the landlord if they provide misleading information in compliance statements.

If you are a tenant and you are concerned that your rental property does not comply with healthy homes standards, we recommend having a friendly chat to your landlord first. Failing that, please contact us and we can help you explore your options.

On the other hand, if you are a landlord and are concerned about your obligations under the healthy homes standards, please come and see us for advice.

Sunset clauses – the new bill introduced into Parliament

The Property Law (Sunset Clauses) Amendment Bill was introduced to Parliament on 9 April 2025 and is tracking towards its first reading. The bill is aimed at restricting sellers developing vacant plots of land from using ‘sunset clauses’ to cancel sale and purchase agreements. It also provides an extra layer of protection to buyers who, in good faith, have made the commitment to purchase the property.

In this context, a ‘sunset clause’ is a provision added to an agreement for the sale and purchase of a plot of land in development which allows the seller or buyer the option to cancel the agreement if the development is not complete by the specified date.

There have previously been situations in which sellers have used these clauses to cancel an agreement, where there have been delays in development, only to then go and list the property at a higher price.

This legislation would require the seller to obtain the buyer’s written consent to cancel the agreement under a sunset clause. There would also be the requirement to give sufficient notice of, and reasons for, the proposed cancellation to the buyer in advance. This is the extra layer of protection given to the buyer.

If the buyer does not consent to the agreement being cancelled, the seller would need to apply to the High Court for an order permitting the cancellation. On the seller’s application, the court would only make the order if it is satisfied that its making would be ‘just and equitable in all the circumstances.’ The court would consider various factors including whether the seller has acted unreasonably or in bad faith, the reason for the delay in completing the development, whether the land has increased in value and the effect of the cancellation on the buyer.

If this law is passed and you are a seller or buyer who seeks to activate a sunset clause, please get in touch with us – we would be happy to assist you.

Real estate agent commission – claim or not to claim?

Before a real estate agent lists a seller’s property, the parties enter into a ‘listing agreement’ or ‘agency agreement,’ authorising the agent to sell the property on the seller’s behalf.

The real estate agent receives a commission (a percentage of the sale proceeds) for introducing the buyer to the property. The real estate agent usually takes their commission out of the deposit the buyer pays when the agreement for sale and purchase becomes unconditional.

However, there are some situations in which an agent is not entitled to be paid their commission:

  • Where there is no listing agreement in place
  • If an agreement for sale and purchase does not become unconditional and is cancelled, and
  • If the property is pulled from the market and the seller cancels the listing agreement (but note that the agent may still charge a fee).

If you are considering selling your property and have any questions about entering into a listing agreement, please come and see us for advice first.

DISCLAIMER: All the information published in Property Speaking is true and accurate to the best of the authors’ knowledge. It should not be a substitute for legal advice. No liability is assumed by the authors or publisher for losses suffered by any person or organisation relying directly or indirectly on this newsletter. Views expressed are those of individual authors, and do not necessarily reflect the view of Edmonds Judd. Articles appearing in Property Speaking may be reproduced with prior approval from the editor and credit given to the source.
Copyright, NZ LAW Limited, 2022.     Editor: Adrienne Olsen.       E-mail: [email protected].       Ph: 029 286 3650

 


Budget 2025

‘Fiscally conservative’?

On 22 May, the Minister of Finance, the Hon Nicola Willis, presented what she had termed a ‘No BS Budget.’ It is officially entitled ‘The Growth Budget.’

 

Described by the minister as being ‘fiscally conservative,’ public expectations were not high for a lolly scramble of funding for new initiatives.

 

In the weeks leading up to the Budget, the minister drip-fed announcements of about $1.9 billion of new spending and, amongst others, a significant ‘restructure’ to the pay equity regime. As a result,

it was anticipated that on Budget Day, there would be what the minister has called ‘reprioritising of spending.’

 

Over the past few years, New Zealand has experienced an extended period of high inflation, high interest rates and low growth. With this 2025 Budget and despite worldwide geopolitical and geoeconomic tensions, the minister has indicated New Zealand’s fiscal outlook will gradually recover, despite an initial period of retraction. The government now expects what the minister has called ‘a modest surplus’ by 2028–29.

 

Good news for business

Called Investment Boost, businesses can now write off 20% of the value of productive new assets such as machinery, tools and equipment from that year’s taxable income – in addition to regular depreciation rates. By encouraging investment, the government expects a 1% increase in GDP and wages by 1.5% over the next 20 years, with half of these gains being in the next five years.

 

Greeted positively by the business sector, these new rules came into force on 22 May, passed under urgency after the Budget was presented.

 

Intended to attract foreign investment to this country, the government has created a new agency, Invest New Zealand. The agency’s objective is to create a vibrant investment market in this country. Initially collaborating with New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, Invest New Zealand has a clear direction to attract international capital, ideas and expertise in order to lift wages and grow the country’s economy.

 

Additionally, the government says it will be easier for startups to compete for talent by changing how employee share schemes are taxed.

 

Supporting New Zealand’s strong position in the film industry, screen production rebates will be renewed.

 

Government cuts contributions to KiwiSaver

The government’s contribution to KiwiSaver accounts is to be halved. Until now, KiwiSaver account holders have received $521 a year from the government; this is to be cut to $260.72.

 

In addition, the threshold for the minimum ‘default’ rate of employee and matching employer KiwiSaver contributions is to be increased from 3% to 4%; this is to be a two-step process over the next three years. This will be optional; KiwiSaver account holders may opt to stay at 3%. With many KiwiSaver balances ‘modest,’ the minister says this change should encourage New Zealanders to save more for their retirement.

 

More positive news for New Zealand’s younger taxpayers is that 16 and 17-year-olds will start to receive government contributions to their KiwiSaver from July (currently there is no contribution). Requirements for employers to match these deposits will start in 2026.

 

Benefits

Jobseeker and emergency benefits to be means tested: Not anticipated by pundits, 18 and 19-year-olds will have their Jobseeker and emergency benefits tested against their parents’ incomes, although there are some exemptions. The threshold against which these benefits will be measured is yet to be decided.

 

Medicine prescriptions: The length of a prescription is to be extended from three months to 12 months.

 

Working for Families: Targeted at low to middle-income families with children, the family income threshold and abatement rate will increase by an average of $14/fortnight. The additional cost for this will be funded by extending the income testing for the Best Start tax credit to include the first year after having a child, as well as the current situation of means testing for the second and third years. Payments will cease when a family’s income reaches $97,000 a year.

 

SuperGold card: A rise in the income threshold will allow a rates rebate for 66,000 additional lower income households with a SuperGold cardholder.

 

Disability Support Allowance: $760 million has been allocated to support the disability sector. The government has called this a ‘seismic shift’ in funding.

 

More . . .

Already announced and included in Thursday’s Budget is more funding for health, education, law and order, and other frontline public services. This includes:

  • Significant additional funding for the education sector for children with additional learning needs, schools/early childhood education and tertiary operational grants; additional help with maths skills; and lifting school attendance,
  • Nelson Hospital is to undergo a much-publicised need for redevelopment, together with Wellington’s emergency department. Auckland hospitals are to be upgraded,
  • After decades of underinvestment, the country’s rail will receive a $460 million upgrade to the metro and regional rail networks, and
  • The Defence Force will receive significantly more investment to boost New Zealand’s capabilities for the army, navy and air force, and in cyberspace.

 

To read the Budget in more detail, click here for the minister’s Budget speech.

 

If you would like to discuss the implications of the government’s business incentives, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

 

Major changes ahead for New Zealand’s financial landscape.

DISCLAIMER: All the information published in Property Speaking is true and accurate to the best of the authors’ knowledge. It should not be a substitute for legal advice. No liability is assumed by the authors or publisher for losses suffered by any person or organisation relying directly or indirectly on this newsletter. Views expressed are those of individual authors, and do not necessarily reflect the view of Edmonds Judd. Articles appearing in Property Speaking may be reproduced with prior approval from the editor and credit given to the source.
Copyright, NZ LAW Limited, 2022.     Editor: Adrienne Olsen.       E-mail: [email protected].       Ph: 029 286 3650