Commiserations to the OP
If it's any consolation many of us have "done time" in cold, damp rentals on arrival in NZ, so you are not alone. If you have the financial resources, swallow hard and purchase a dehumidifier to run in your child's bedroom overnight (move into other rooms in the day if someone is home to circulate it) and consider the modern fan heating options for your living space. Be ruthless about closing curtains at dusk and 'squeegying' and mopping up damp windows in the morning. The window film stuff is good but expensive and a hassle (for a rental you don't want to be in) - for bathrooms and windows that you don't mind how ho-hum it looks, consider bubble wrap (Google it). Do not dry any laundry inside or shower / cook without extraction, ditto tumble drier - only use if vented outside. Lastly, record the temps in the living space and bedroom every day - you might need it for the tribunal in the future (your landlord might try to deduct your rent for mould damage).
I think it should be illegal to rent out houses without underfloor & ceiling insulation, carpets & curtains, and a 'healthy' heat source (i.e. NOT unflued gas heating); however, those things aren't even guaranteed in state housing in NZ. As far as the housing minister, Nick Smith, is concerned, kids dying of respiratory illness due to substandard housing is "nothing new" in NZ, so I wouldn't be expecting any radical changes of legislation to protect NZ's most vulnerable families in this regard anytime soon ...
Originally Posted by
che26
On reflection, I want to add that I own a rental property in Auckland, a 1930s weatherboard house that initially had no insulation, heaters or curtains. The tenants complained that it was unbearably cold in winter (not surprisingly). Not all landlords are unreasonable. We have added insulation, thick curtains and a new woodburner. It has increased the value of the house and its rentability. Plus the tenants have now been there for 4 years. I think what I am saying is that it always pays to ask (we received a letter from the tenants via the property manager). As a landlord you want to retain good tenants. Plus I wouldn't sleep easily at night knowing that I am renting a house that is making my tenants sick, particularly with a young child.
So you rented it out without insulation, heating or curtains and only did something about it after the tenants complained? I cannot help but to note that you write about improved house value, rental income, and retaining 'good' tenants
before mentioning the health or your tenants!