Money for warmer, drier homes in Budget '16

Published 1 June 2016

More money to warm up kiwi homes

The Government announced last week that the WarmUp NZ: Healthy Homes programme would be extended for the next two years – but with some major changes.

There are two big differences: funding for insulation subsidies drops from about $33 million a year to $9 million a year, and it will only be available for rental homes with low-income tenants.

It’s estimated 20,000 houses will be insulated with the new funding, and with new regulations on rental homes coming into effect soon, these subsidies will go a long way to incentivising landlords to get their homes insulated quickly.

As a long-time advocate for vulnerable households, we are very pleased to see ongoing support for low-income households. If you, or someone you know, is a tenant and holds a Community Services Card, please contact us about whether your home might fit the criteria for an insulation subsidy.

We are, however, disappointed that there is no support for low-income families who own their own home – this part of the programme will end in the next few weeks.

We are looking at ways we can continue to support households with limited means to get warm and dry, and in the meantime our Curtain Bank and Warm Fuzzies teams are working as hard as they can. - Phil Squire, chief executive