{"id":263414,"date":"2026-02-02T04:14:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T04:14:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/263414\/"},"modified":"2026-02-02T04:14:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T04:14:09","slug":"new-homes-overheating-what-has-happened-two-years-after-problems-flagged","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/263414\/","title":{"rendered":"New homes overheating: What has happened two years after problems flagged?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last January, the Herald reported how some Auckland terraced and apartment homes were overheating<\/a>, causing distress and potential health issues for inhabitants.<\/p>\n

In Christchurch in his new home, Rood told the Herald this week he\u2019s glad to be in another place where the bedroom doesn\u2019t get to the 57.1C he once measured.<\/p>\n

\"DannyDanny Rood of Christchurch complained about living in a hot house in 2024. He has since moved twice and now lives in a cooler place. Photo \/ Danny Rood<\/p>\n

But home owner and landlord Jenny Stewart said there was nothing wrong with the home he rented if it was managed correctly.<\/p>\n

She lives in Queenstown, and other tenants now rent the place without problems, she said.<\/p>\n

No one had asked her opinion at the time Rood raised issues, Stewart said.<\/p>\n

\"OverheatingOverheating in apartments and townhouses is a big problem. Minister Chris Penk has vowed to solve it. Photo \/ Brett Phibbs<\/p>\n

Rood told the Herald this month that back in 2024, he had used a Briscoes-bought room-temperature thermometer; he measured a high of 57.1C in his upstairs bedroom.<\/p>\n

The two-level home\u2019s north-facing front was covered in double-glazing. There was no shade.<\/p>\n

His bedroom was upstairs beneath a skillion roof, meaning it had little air gap and was not a pitched roof.<\/p>\n

\"OverheatingOverheating in new homes \u2013 a problem raised by the Green Building Council. Photo \/ 123rf<\/p>\n

The roof was black, he said, attracting and retaining heat. Going to bed was \u201chell\u201d at the Seddon St house.<\/p>\n

He is now renting a single-level home built around 2018 or 2019 with a pitched roof and shade from other homes nearby. It does not have a north-facing wall of double-glazing either, he said.<\/p>\n

Stewart denied overheating problems at her house and said it met healthy homes regulations. If blackout blinds were used upstairs in bedrooms, along with windows opened, and a fan run, bedrooms could be kept cool, she said.<\/p>\n

\"AucklandAuckland apartments: north-facing windows are cited as one of the reasons for overheating. Photo \/ Brett Phibbs<\/p>\n

Rood said he had tried all he could but only a heat pump installed in the bedroom would have resolved matters. Downstairs, the tenants could turn the air conditioning on, he said.<\/p>\n

But that cool air did not travel upstairs.<\/p>\n

He was supplied with a fan with an ice pack while in the hot house but that just moved the hot air around, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like putting a glass of cold water into an oven,\u201d Rood said.<\/p>\n

\"AndrewAndrew Eagles of the Green Building Council. Photo \/ Andrew Eagles<\/p>\n

Eagles said another summer was passing with no action from the Government to reform regulations which would stop hot houses<\/a> from being designed and built.<\/p>\n

Every month of inaction sees more and more homes being built \u2013 at least half of them terraced or apartments, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s many thousands of families suffering from overheating.\u201d<\/p>\n

In November the Green Building Council and Auckland Council called for Penk to take steps to address the problem.<\/p>\n

\"BuildingBuilding and Construction Minister Chris Penk. Photo \/ Mark Mitchell<\/p>\n

Eagles said many recently built homes had unacceptably high indoor temperatures during summer.<\/p>\n

The absence of a check at the design stage was a key contributing factor, he complained.<\/p>\n

International building codes, including those in Australia and the UK, require checking at the design stage and a limit on internal heat gain.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the New Zealand Building Code had no such requirement, Eagles said.<\/p>\n

Large windows, a lack of eaves or other shade, no consideration of a property\u2019s direction towards the sun and poor ventilation were causing overheating in old and new builds, he said.<\/p>\n

An Auckland Council study<\/a> of medium-density homes found highly glazed upstairs bedrooms with tight window safety latches in new terraces and apartments are sweltering, resulting in uncomfortable sleeping conditions.<\/p>\n

\"ChrisChris Penk is vowing action. Photo \/ RNZ, Nick Monro<\/p>\n

\u201cUpper levels of terraced houses and duplexes are too hot in summer,\u201d the report, Life in Medium Density Housing in T\u0101maki Makaurau\/Auckland, by Kathryn Ovenden and Melanie McKelvie who work in policy, planning and governance, says.<\/p>\n

Penk said: \u201cIt is surprising and disappointing in equal measure that the Building Code that I inherited was so deficient in matters of ventilation.<\/p>\n

\u201cInsulation is hugely important, as is ventilation. It is a shame that one of these has been neglected until now.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m determined that we rectify this situation. An upcoming review of the Building Code will include a strong focus on preventing the overheating of multi-storey dwellings such as townhouses.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment was looking at the ventilation issue.<\/p>\n

Anne Gibson<\/a> has been the Herald\u2018s property editor for 25 years, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.<\/p>\n

Stay ahead with the latest market moves, corporate updates, and economic insights by subscribing to our Business newsletter<\/a> \u2013 your essential weekly round-up of all the business news you need.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Last January, the Herald reported how some Auckland terraced and apartment homes were overheating, causing distress and potential…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":263415,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[7501,74,1559,4487,26775,112461,8619,22263,6871,42,6800,76,4188,117,111,43,139,69,30141,10057,150746,117600,10050,1237,6923,1316,1339,1530],"class_list":["post-263414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-7501","tag-after","tag-called","tag-christchurch","tag-danny","tag-flagged","tag-fun","tag-happened","tag-has","tag-headlines","tag-homes","tag-issue","tag-living","tag-new","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-overheating","tag-problems","tag-rood","tag-sauna","tag-tenant","tag-two","tag-what","tag-when","tag-without","tag-years"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=263414"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263414\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/263415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=263414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=263414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=263414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}