The Government should re-commit to its MoU with the Green Party and the Warm Up New Zealand scheme after announcing that rental homes will be legally required to be insulated, the Green Party said today.
“While minimum standards for insulation and smoke alarms in rentals are just two small steps the Government should be taking to keep tenants healthy and safe, we think this is a good opportunity to resurrect the Warm Up New Zealand scheme, which National abandoned in 2013,” said Green Party Co-leader Metiria Turei.
“Warm Up New Zealand is a proven campaign that showed real results – it insulated 235,000 Kiwi homes and created a boon for the insulation industry, before National decided to drastically scale it back.
“Insulation and working smoke alarms are not in themselves going to fix the appalling state of rental stock in this country, or prevent New Zealanders from getting sick from their cold, damp houses this winter.
“To do that, the Government would need to introduce a wide-ranging housing warrant of fitness with enforceable minimum standards across the board.
“However, if this Government is only willing to do the bare minimum for renters, then they at least owe it to them do it properly.
“Warm Up New Zealand is a model programme on how to provide clean, green energy solutions, and keep New Zealand families safe and warm at home.
“The Government should be looking at how to restore this programme to help the thousands of Kiwi families who live in rental housing,” said Mrs Turei.
