While the All Blacks were putting in the hard work, we threw our weight behind the I Am Hope Foundation and Gumboot Friday with our very own ‘The Great Gumboot Friday Gala Auction.’

Our incredible community came to the party, donating prizes and bidding up a storm! We are humbled to announce that we raised over $36,000, equating to 250 life-saving counselling sessions for young people throughout New Zealand. We all understand the importance of personal wellbeing, however, for many young New Zealanders, their mental health is vulnerable, the work of the I Am Hope Foundation is entirely dependent on donations and we feel privileged to have been able to actively support this vital work.

Join us for an unforgettable evening at The Great Gumboot Friday Gala Auction by Harcourts Holmwood!

Providing free access to counselling for children in need is a cause we are incredibly passionate about at Harcourts Holmwood. This year, we are throwing all our effort behind raising as much as we can to support the mental health of our children in Aotearoa.

Support a great cause and make a difference with us as we rally behind Gumboot Friday and the I Am Hope Foundation. Your $25 ticket (BOOK HERE) includes a warm welcome with a glass of bubbles and delectable cocktail food. Come together for a night of generosity, community, and giving back. Don’t miss out on this special event.

Browse our Auction catalogue with some incredible items awaiting for you to bid on:

The I AM HOPE Foundation has one goal – positive societal attitudinal change. They know our youth struggle with distressing self-talk and overthinking, leaving them feeling isolated and alone. When they are shown that these thoughts are universal, they can give our kids a better life. Over the past 10 years, the I AM HOPE Foundation has spoken and listened to over 300,000 kids in schools from the top to the bottom of New Zealand. They have created books for our youngest kids, barista trained struggling youth, and enabled free counselling for over 10,000 young people. Harcourts Holmwood wants to ensure that I AM HOPE continues to do this important work.

We would like to extend our heartfelt thank you to our incredible sponsors who have donated their time and items to be auctioned. To our event sponsors and those who have provided their services to make this event possible, we are so thankful for your support.

Dig deep and bid on the amazing items and packages that are on offer. Your generosity is greatly appreciated and will help many young New Zealand children receive the support they deserve.

Harcourts Foundation support Nurse Maude Hospice to purchase new equipment.

Keeping up to date with equipment for patient use in the Hospice Palliative Care Service will be a little easier for Nurse Maude Hospice, Christchurch, thanks to a grant from the Harcourts Foundation.

Nurse Maude is “delighted” to have been granted $4,890 to purchase two replacement syringe drivers and said, “These syringe drivers help us support patients in the community, in the Hospice inpatient facility and in aged care, by assisting in the effective management of symptoms such as pain and nausea and are invaluable in helping each patient live every moment in whatever way is important to them. We are so grateful to Harcourts for their continued support of Hospices and always getting behind us.”

Hospice NZ chief executive Wayne Naylor says, “Every year, hospices around Aotearoa New Zealand rely on grants and fundraising to purchase much needed equipment to support the care of people with a terminal illness and he appreciates the continued support of Harcourts Foundation in order to do so. This year, Harcourts has supported eleven hospices with $50,000 to buy critical items such as diagnostic equipment, pain relieving syringe pumps, hospital style beds and chairs. This equipment helps keep people at home with whānau and friends and lets them enjoy life surrounded by the things and people they love.”

In return, Harcourts Holmwood business owner Tony Jenkins, who works closely with Nurse Maude Hospice said, “it’s an honour to work together with Hospice NZ on this special programme and to give back to the local St. Albans community. We have a huge amount of respect for what hospice achieves in our community and our entire team in our office supports the benefit that it gives.”

Harcourts NZ Managing Director Bryan Thomson says ‘This year we are delighted to have given the largest sum to date of $49,408 into the Hospice Grants Programme. The Harcourts Foundation funding for Hospice NZ has been distributed into communities such as Ashburton, Auckland, Whakatane and Blenheim to Nelson, Christchurch, Rotorua, and Invercargill enabling the amazing work that hospice do, to help people from many regions. The grants have been distributed to 11 hospices nationwide – cover costs for items ranging from pulse oximeters and mattresses to syringe drivers and transport beds.

He continues, “Alongside extending our commitment to the Hospice Grants Programme for the sixth year, we have increased the grant total from $225,000 to $275,000. This is in addition to thousands of dollars being distributed every three months by the Harcourts Foundation to other community groups, schools and initiatives, and represents its largest grant each year.

Image: Harcourts Holmwood business owner Tony Jenkins with Jane Rollings, Hospice Palliative Care Service Manager and Raewyn Jenkins, Clinical Nurse Educator form Nurse Maude Hospice.

About Harcourts Foundation

Harcourts launched Harcourts Foundation in 2008 which makes us 15 years old! Our promise is simple; to provide support that helps grow and enrich our communities. With 100% of the funds raised going straight to the charities who need it most, we’ve been able to provide grants totalling more than $7.7 million internationally to support local community groups. We’re incredibly proud of the work the Harcourts Foundation and its many supporters are doing to help to change lives and make dreams come true.

Through the Harcourts Foundation, we also support the Hospice NZ Grants Programme which provides all member hospices with the opportunity to purchase much needed equipment.  Every donation to the grants fund directly supports Hospices from the far north to the deep south to continue their work, enabling people to live every moment in whatever way is important to them.

The Harcourts Foundation is also a proud supporter of Gumboot Friday. Since 2019 Gumboot Friday has raised over $6million for free kids counselling. This has paid for over 20,000 sessions for just under 10,000 kids. The average cost per session is $138. In November 2022, the Harcourts Foundation raised $167,652.814 which will pay for over 1215 counselling sessions for our young people who need support.

Outstanding auction success

On Wednesday 25th January, Harcourts Holmwood achieved outstanding success in their auction rooms with all four properties listed for auction, selling under the hammer.

With five properties programmed for sale, one sold prior to auction. The four properties that sold under the hammer today, each had multiple bids.

Tony Jenkins, CEO of Holmwood Real Estate said, “today was a great day in the auction rooms and we are beyond thrilled for our vendors and buyers.” He continued, “there is a lot of conversation around the Real Estate market and auction as a method of sale. Today we have proven that there is still great activity in the Christchurch market for all price ranges, and auction is indeed a great way for people to buy and sell.”

With listings and prices ranging from a modest section in New Brighton to an established four-bedroom home in Ilam, buyers were a plenty in our auction rooms.

For further information, please contact Tony Jenkins CEO of Harcourts Holmwood on 0274 432 2896 or tony.jenkins@harcourts.co.nz.

About Harcourts

Harcourts was founded in Wellington in 1888 and remains proudly Kiwi owned. Harcourts New Zealand has 205 offices and over 2600 sales consultants nationwide. We specialise in residential, commercial, and rural property sales and provide property management services. Harcourts has been at the forefront of the real estate market in New Zealand for 134 years. Today, Harcourts International has over 900 offices in nine countries around the world. Our success has been built on ensuring our people have the knowledge, expertise and tools to achieve the best possible results for our customers. *We are also proud to be New Zealand’s Most Trusted real estate brand. *Readers Digest Most Trusted survey, 2013-2022.

At Holmwood, inspiring and motivating the growth of our people is a top priority to us. We are dedicated to providing opportunities that empower our agents to reach their full potential! For this reason, we are very excited to announce Harcourts Holmwood SuperStart: Ignite 2023!  🎉💙

We had so much fun last year, that we couldn’t help but do it all again!

SuperStart: Ignite 2023 will be bringing an all-new line-up of speakers from all around New Zealand and beyond, as well as sessions from some of our very own!
Stay tuned to our Facebook and Instagram as we introduce them in the coming weeks!

Donate a gift and bring a smile to a child’s face, who otherwise might go without.

A vital part of the Holmwood culture is giving back to our community. This Christmas we will once again be supporting Cholmondeley Children’s Centre.

Cholmondeley Children’s Centre provides short-term emergency and planned respite care and education to children aged 3-12 years whose families are experiencing genuine stress or crisis. Their aim is to give these children the opportunity to build their resilience, while issues at home are resolved. We are extremely proud to support this important charity.

You Can Help Too!

  • Gifts needed for children aged 3–12 years
  • If you’re having trouble deciding on a gift, gift vouchers from retailers like Toy World and Farmers are great too
  • Donations of new, non-perishable food items or Christmas Hampers are welcome
  • For monetary donations please visit cholmondeley.org.nz/support-us/donate

We are collecting presents for these children under the Christmas tree in our Auction Room. If you would also like to support this worthy cause, please bring your gifts to the upstairs reception of our head office at 397 Ilam Road before midday on Wednesday 7th December (unwrapped).

You can also visit www.cholmondeley.org.nz to read more about the amazing work Cholmondeley do in the community to help families flourish.

Thank you for your continued support.

Section 45 of the Residential Tenancies Act –
Landlord responsibilities

Section 45(1) of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 (RTA) lists the Landlord Responsibilities, with the most important, or perhaps most obvious responsibilities being at the beginning, which is where we will focus for the purpose of this article.

It is important to be aware that failure by the landlord to comply with any of paragraphs (a) to (ca) below is declared to be an unlawful act and may attract exemplary damages payable to the tenant of up to $7,200. In recent cases, the Tenancy Tribunal has awarded tenants $4,000 in exemplary damages for premises being provided to tenants when they do not meet a reasonable state of cleanliness.

  • Provide the premises in a reasonable state of cleanliness – It is a reasonable expectation for anyone moving into a new home, whether a purchaser or a tenant, or even hiring an Airbnb or a hotel room, that the premises are reasonably clean, and it is the landlord’s responsibility to ensure a rental premises meets this Your property manager understands the ‘reasonably clean’ standard, however interestingly, tribunal adjudicators have stated in tribunal decisions that there is an expectation that landlords will professionally clean a rental premises between tenancies, therefore acknowledging that there is a difference between the expectation of ‘reasonably clean’ when a tenant vacates, to the standard expected of ‘reasonably clean’ when a tenant moves in.

“The landlord shall provide and maintain the premises in a reasonable state of repair….”.

  • When a tenancy commences, the property must be provided in a reasonable state of It is an unlawful act to provide a property in disrepair, and rather to get the work performed after a tenant has moved in.The next requirement is that the premises must be maintained in a reasonable state of repair. This includes any fixtures or fittings, or chattels. For example, if the property is rented with an alarm system and the alarm stops working during a tenancy, the landlord must repair or replace it. This is the same as an old fridge. You cannot include an item on the Tenancy Agreement in an ‘as is where is’ state, and then decide not to repair it. In this case, the landlord would be well advised to remove any item they do not intend to maintain. Interestingly in the past few years since the Healthy Homes Guarantee Act became law, the healthy homes standards (HHS) are cited in complaints and referenced in tenancy tribunal hearings when properties are not in good repair,however not all homes are required to meet the healthy homes standards, yet.

All private rentals must comply with all five of the healthy homes standards within 90 days of any new or renewed tenancy after 1 July 2021, with all private rentals complying by 1 July 2024.

The healthy homes standards provide minimum standards for heating, ventilation for kitchens and bathrooms, moisture ingress and drainage, insulation (additional to 2019 legislation) and draught stopping.

Providing and maintaining premises in a reasonable state of repair has nothing to do with the healthy homes standards and has everything to do with being a requirement of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986

Maintenance Examples vs Healthy Homes

Drainage– A standard property is likely to already have a drainage system that includes gutters, downpipes, and drains, and these need to be kept clear and working as part of the requirement to maintain a property in a reasonable state of repair. Therefore, landlords should have the gutters cleared regularly if this is necessary to ensure the drainage system is working properly. The HHS has simply made it law that all properties must now have efficient drainage systems.

Heating Since 1947, it has been law that all properties must have a heating source in the living room, not just rental premises. Although some interpreted this to mean that a power point in the living room was sufficient as a heater can be plugged into the power point, this argument has not held up in recent tribunal cases. So, prior to the HHS, any heating source was acceptable, however now, the HHS heating standard states that the heat source must be fixed, efficient and meet the minimum heating capacity for the main living room.

Ventilation If a property had an extraction fan in the bathroom, then it needs to be working. With the HHS, extraction fans must be ducted outside and any new fans since July 2019 must meet minimum requirements. Regardless, they must always be in working order.

Draught stopping – For the HHS draught stopping standard, landlords must make sure the propertydoesn’t have unreasonable gaps or holes in walls, ceilings, windows, skylights, floors and doors which cause noticeable draughts. However, a property in a reasonable state of repair does not have holes in the wall and it would be completely unreasonable to rent a property in this state. We don’t need the healthy homes standards to tell us this.

A property is not required to have a healthy homes assessment done between each tenancy, because quite simply, it is already legislated in the RTA that the premises must be maintained. So, once a property has been upgraded, or appliances installed, it is the landlord’s responsibility to ensure that these are maintained and are in good working order for the duration of the tenancy.

(ba) Smoke alarms Smoke alarms protect both the occupants/tenants and the property, and Harcourts encourages all landlords to comply with industry best practice and have the supply and testing of smoke alarms outsourced. Your property manager can recommend suitably qualified and experienced companies for this service.

(bb) Healthy homes compliance – Landlords must meet the healthy homes standards by the compliance date for their current tenancy, or by 1 July 2024, whichever is sooner. Harcourts advice is to meet the standards as soon as possible to retain great tenants.

(bd) Contaminants – There are regulations being developed by Government setting out acceptable levels of meth contamination, however these are not in place yet. Always get advice from your property manager if you suspect that your property may be contaminated.

Compliance – Landlords have an obligation to ensure that any premises that are rented must be lawful and in good condition and must comply with all legal requirements before being rented out. This includes requirements around buildings, health, and safety.

There are other responsibilities listed on Section 45(1) (included) which are likely to be self- explanatory. Contact your property manager if you have any questions.

Section 45 – Landlord Responsibilities

  • The landlord shall—
    • provide the premises in a reasonable state of cleanliness; and
    • provide and maintain the premises in a reasonable state of repair having regard to the age and character of the premises and the period during which the premises are likely to remain habitable and available for residential purposes; and

(ba) comply with all requirements in respect of smoke alarms imposed on the landlord by regulations made under section 138A; and

(bb) comply with the healthy homes standards; and

(bc) [Repealed]

(bd) comply with all requirements in respect of contaminants imposed on the landlord by regulations made under section 138C(3)(c); and

  • comply with all requirements in respect of buildings, health, and safety under any enactment so far as they apply to the premises; and

(ca) if the premises do not have a reticulated water supply, provide adequate means for the collection and storage of water; and

  • compensate the tenant for any reasonable expenses incurred by the tenant in repairing the premises where—
    • the state of disrepair has arisen otherwise than as a result of a breach of the tenancy agreement by the tenant and is likely to cause injury to persons or property or is otherwise serious and urgent; and
    • the tenant has given the landlord notice of the state of disrepair or made a reasonable attempt to do so; and
  • take all reasonable steps to ensure that none of the landlord’s other tenants causes or permits any interference with the reasonable peace, comfort, or privacy of the tenant in the use of the

Healthy Homes Standard Assessments
and making a plan

Did you know that if you have not had your rental property assessed for its current level of compliance with the healthy homes standards and it becomes vacant, you will not be able to re-tenant the property until you do?

Meet Bob

Let’s look at a likely scenario with our hypothetical landlord, Bob. In November, a tenant gives Bob notice to vacate his property on 12 December 2022. Bob, who lives two hours away, does not know the property’s current level of compliance with the healthy

homes standards. Bob now needs to do the following:

  • Establish the required heating capacity for the main living room using the Heating Assessment Tool at

tenancy. govt.nz/heating-tool or the formula contained in schedule 2 of the RTA (HHS) Regulations 2019.

  • Complete the six pages dedicated to Insulation on the compliance This is easy for Bob as he installed new insulation in July 2018. Otherwise, he may have needed a professional assessment.
  • Bob needs to know what extraction fans are installed and ensure they are in good working order and ducted If they were installed after 1 July 2019, he needs to know the diameter or exhaust capacity.
  • He must inspect gutters and downpipes to ensure they efficiently drain storm, surface, and ground water to an appropriate
  • He needs to know if his property requires a ground moisture barrier, and if it has one installed or Bob has not looked under the house for a long time.
  • Bob also needs to understand how to meet the requirements in the draught stopping standard, and he thinks this standard should be met as soon as

Bob decides that he does not have the appropriate skills to perform these checks himself, particularly determining the heating capacity using the assessment tool as measuring rooms is required. He decides to employ a professional, but there is a delay in getting an appropriately qualified assessor to inspect the property due to the demands on the industry. A date of 17 December is given, and the report will be provided within three business days. On 21 December, when the report is received, the property can be rented, and the tenancy agreement prepared with the required compliance statements.

Unfortunately, it is now close to Christmas and tenants are not moving. The property remains vacant until mid-January. Bob loses five weeks rent. Don’t be like Bob.

Bob now has several applications and has selected his preferred tenant. Bob completes the current level of compliance statement as part of preparing the tenancy agreement and now has just 90 days to meet all five of the healthy homes standards.

Bob wishes he had made a plan earlier, as he now has to pay for extraction fans and a heat pump all at once, and after a long vacancy period. Ouch!

Make a plan

On the healthy homes standards current level of compliance statement, which is required for all new and renewed tenancies, landlords must not only complete the 16- page document that discloses the property’s current level of compliance for each of the five healthy homes standards, but they will also have just 90 days from the start of any new or renewed tenancy to meet the standards. Once your property is assessed, a plan is needed to comply with the standards.

Our Property Managers are working with landlords to avoid situations and vacancy periods like those experienced by Bob, but with the time it can take to get an assessment done, scenarios like Bob’s can be commonplace.

Don’t wait for your existing tenant to get fed up with a property that doesn’t meet the healthy homes standards and give notice, only to leave you searching for a new tenant and still having only 90 days to meet the standards. Speak to your Harcourts property manager for advice, get your property professionally assessed and make your plan to meet the standards now!

Article reproduced and updated from PM Focus September 2020 edition.

Harcourts Property Management Leadership Conference

Our leadership team at Harcourts is persistent in their strive for excellence. That’s how we offer and deliver next-level client service in Property Management.

Harcourts New Zealand’s Property Management Leadership Conference 2022 was a day of learning and collaborating on how we can provide an innovative and industry-leading approach in our work with landlords and tenants.

We were lucky enough to be joined by guest speakers – Harcourts Managing Director, Bryan Thomson, Tenancy.co.nz Managing Director Craeg Williams, Mortgage Express CEO, Sarah Johnston, and International Property Management

Trainer, Darren Hunter. In sharing their expertise, our attendees walked away with crucial insider knowledge, ready to apply to their craft and lead their teams in the pursuit of excellence.

Together with the Harcourts Foundation, Holmwood is getting behind Gumboot Friday!

What is Gumboot Friday?

Gumboot Friday is a nationwide initiative which provides FREE kids counselling when it is really needed. Since April 2019 Gumboot Friday has raised over 3 million dollars for free kids counselling. From this they have paid for over 21,000 sessions for just under 10,000 kids. The average cost per session is $138.00. They anticipate that with the money they have and what will be raised over the next 12 months, Gumboot Friday will pay for a further 20,000 free sessions before the end of 2023.

Mike King, who is the founder of ‘I am Hope,’ the organisation behind the Gumboot Friday initiative, shed light on the mental health crisis in New Zealand and about the positive impact the donation from Harcourts Foundation will make to the children who access the free counselling service. He said, ‘Gumboot Friday pays directly for the counselling services which helps get these kids struggling with depression and feeling like they are walking in mud, to build a better, brighter future.’

This is something that Emma Revell, Harcourts Foundation Ambassador understands the importance of. She said, ‘It is vital that we get behind initiatives like Gumboot Friday which will help these young people receive the counselling services that are so desperately needed.’

How is Holmwood supporting Gumboot Friday?

We are supporting this incredible cause in two ways:

  1. For every auction held between 18th October and November 4th, Holmwood will donate a portion to Gumboot Friday – how good is that!
  2. We are ditching the frocks, shirts, and ties just for a day as we would LOVE to see our whole Holmwood team supporting this cause; we’ll do this by purchasing a Gumboot Friday top and they will wear it on Friday 4 November.

You can join us too, just get your orders in asap to ensure they are here on time. ALL proceeds go directly back to ‘I am Hope’ https://i-am-hope-nz.myshopify.com/collections/all

Share your photo with us too! #gavel&gumboots

To learn more how you can support Gumboot Friday:
Visit www.gumbootfriday.org.nz
Follow them on Instagram @gumbootfriday.
Gumboot Friday Facebook https://www.facebook.com/gumbootupNZ

Westpac Chopper Gala
A Night Out To Save Lives

On Thursday 11th August, 2022, we were proud to be part of the hugely successful Westpac Chopper Gala & Charity Auction at Christchurch Town Hall. We were treated to some of the best local entertainment, locally sourced produced and a stellar beverage selection. Overall, it was a truly memorable evening for all involved. The auction was run by our talented auctioneers Mark McGoldrick and Kyle Siebert.

The Air Rescue Helicopter Service could not save lives without the generous support from our community. Make a life-saving difference today by making a donation. Learn how at www.airrescue.co.nz

Ron Towner

Our fabulous agent Liz O’Neill, has been fundraising for the Breast Cancer Foundation since last year after a close friend was diagnosed. This year she held her inaugural Pink Ribbon Auction in May, with great support from the Harcourts Network and local businesses. Usually seen in blue, pink was the colour of the day!

Liz, who is also a competitive Ice Figure Skater auctioned a skating lesson with herself and her fellow Harcourts Holmwood Sales Consultant colleague Richard Dawson won the lesson for $1,000 – on the proviso that the Holmwood CEO Tony Jenkins did the Ice Skating lesson, and that it was filmed by their Videographer Sascha Jehle!

Deciding that it was a great opportunity to continue fundraising for BCF, Liz  engaged local companies Rosefern Homes and Urban Arch, and created her Ice Skating Extravaganza. This involved team members from Holmwood, including Tony Jenkins and Jamin Marshall battling it out on the ice in dance-off’s, relay races and best dressed competitions. Everyone showed off their excellent skating skills, with some tumbles along the way! There was another auction held on the ice which was a great opportunity to bid on some items and raise extra funds. The total amount raised from both events was $31,604.03

Check out the fantastic video and photos from the auction and Ice Skating Extravaganza. Congratulations to Liz, Tony and the entire team at Harcourts Holmwood, this is an amazing fundraising effort!

And a huge thank you to everyone who attended our Pink Ribbon Ice Skating Extravaganza and showed their support!