SR370 BRANZ 2015 House Condition Survey: Comparison of house condition by tenure (2019)

This report presents some results from the 2015 BRANZ House Condition Survey. The analysis focuses on comparing house condition between the two tenures (owner-occupied and rented). The BRANZ House Condition Survey (HCS) provides a snapshot of the state of New Zealand housing at a point in time. The latest round of the survey, completed in 2015/16 (referred to as the 2015 HCS), represents the fifth in a series, undertaken roughly every 5 years since 1994. The 2015 HCS surveyed 560 houses throughout New Zealand.

This report provides a comparison of the condition of owner-occupied and rental houses and highlight defects commonly affecting New Zealand houses. Results from the 2015 HCS show that the rental housing stock is typically in poorer condition than owner-occupied houses. This was evident in the assessment of both interior and exterior property features, although there was some variation in the extent of difference for different building components. The difference was greatest for interior linings and fittings and exterior doors and windows, while there was less divergence in the condition of other exterior features.

The assessor’s rating of overall level of property maintenance provided further evidence of owner-occupied properties being better maintained than rentals. Overall, rental properties were around twice as likely to be rated ‘poorly maintained’ by the assessor compared to owner-occupied houses.

See the BRANZ Research Now for a short and accessible summary of this report