Gathering data on the maintenance and repair of the New Zealand housing stock was a key component of the House Condition Survey. This included the surveyor’s assessment of condition, state of repair and presence of defects as well as the householder’s reported repair and maintenance activity. The latter was recorded as part of the telephone interview with a household occupant.
Householders were asked if there had been any painting, repairs or replacements to any parts of their house within the last 12 months. 30% of households had done some repair or maintenance work over the previous 12 months. This work included painting, repairing or replacing a variety of external and interior property features such as bathroom fittings and windows.
Deferred maintenance
While 30% of houses had seen some repair or maintenance work undertaken in the last 12 months, 30% had delayed or deferred maintenance.
Half the households said cost was the reason for delaying work. For over one-quarter of houses, the required maintenance was not deemed serious and therefore could wait.
Tenants often said someone else (such as the landlord or property manager) made the decision to defer work due to cost or it not being a priority.
The assessor's rating of the overall state of repair of a property showed a higher proportion of properties where maintenance was deferred were observed to be poorly maintained overall compared to those properties without deferred maintenance.
Impacts of deferred maintenance
Deferring maintenance on features that need repair has implications for the overall condition of the property and the longer-term costs to repair.
Results showed 7% of dwellings had at least one feature in serious condition, and 39% had one or more components in poor condition. Roofs and wall cladding were two of the most common features to be in these poorer states of repair, although this did vary between the owner-occupied and rental stock.
Over time, minor defects can deteriorate and accumulate. Further analysis and modelling has been undertaken on the 2015 House Condition Survey to estimate the costs of repairs needed for houses in their assessed state and the costs of doing nothing.
This analysis used the condition ratings of 26 different features of the house recorded in the survey and estimated unit costs to bring that feature from its current state to as-new condition. The results found the average cost of required maintenance to bring the house up to as-new condition was about $13,000 per house. The amount was slightly higher for rentals and lower for owner-occupied housing.
The rate of deterioration, and therefore the cost of deferring maintenance, depends on the type of material, environmental conditions and the occupants’ use of the building. Using approximate estimations of the rate of deterioration from one condition rating to the next indicates that delayed maintenance adds an average of $2,300 per year to the overall cost of repair.
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Estimates of time for a house feature to deteriorate from one condition state to a lower state of repair: - Poor condition to serious condition takes 2 years. - Moderate condition to poor condition takes 5 years. - Good condition to moderate condition takes 10 years. - Excellent condition to good condition takes 10 years. |
Updated: 4 April 2025