Greens announce $327m investment in warming up New Zealand

The Green Party will make a $327 million investment in warming up New Zealand homes, including a special fund of $25 million for Christchurch homes to be built back smarter and warmer, the Green Party announced today.

The Warm Up Christchurch policy will:
· restore the highly successful Warm Up New Zealand insulation scheme to insulate 200,000 poorly insulated homes across New Zealand at a cost of $100 million a year for three years, with $35 million ring-fenced for homes in the Canterbury region.
· create a fund of $25 million over two years to support Christchurch residents to insulate their entire house if they are still doing major repairs
· provide $2 million over two years to support a Christchurch Building Back Smarter service to help Christchurch residents navigate the complexities of post-earthquake rebuilding.

“Our new housing policy will ensure all New Zealanders have a warm, dry and healthy home,” said Green Party Co-leader Metiria Turei.

“The Warm Up New Zealand scheme was a great success, insulating 235,000 Kiwi homes and creating $1.3 billion of benefits.

“Unfortunately, the National Government cut the scheme when it was just getting started.

“The Government’s massively scaled-back Warm Up New Zealand: Healthy Homes scheme falls well short of addressing the extent of the problem of cold houses in New Zealand, with a target of insulating only 46,000 homes over three years and only around 12,000 houses insulated to date.

“There are still 600,000 households across New Zealand that would benefit from insulation and clean heating.

“200,000 Kiwi homes over the next three years will be able to install floor and ceiling insulation and clean heating devices under our policy. This will be a first step towards achieving the original goal of the Warm Up New Zealand: Heat Smart scheme to warm up all poorly insulated houses in New Zealand.”

A further 10,000 homes in Christchurch will benefit from the special fund of $25 million over two years to insulate the house with wall insulation while it is undergoing major repairs.

“Our Warm Up Christchurch policy will give the people of Christchurch a warmer home, instead of the National Government’s cold shoulder,” said Green Party Co-leader Metiria Turei.

“Winter is coming, and an insulated home means a warm, healthy home. But for many families in Christchurch, such a home is still not a reality over three years on from the quakes.

“Warm Up Christchurch is about turning crisis into opportunity by making insulation and clean heating devices affordable for thousands of Christchurch residents.

“Our policy will mean that Christchurch residents can access grants to insulate their homes with floor and ceiling insulation and install clean heating devices through the nationwide Warm Up scheme. For houses in Christchurch still undergoing significant repairs, we will also meet half the cost of wall insulation.

“This is about letting Christchurch build back smarter by providing extra support for Christchurch residents to make their homes warmer, healthier and more environmentally friendly than before.

“We can’t turn back the clock and fix National’s failure to address this issue, but we can fix the problem for the remaining homes in Christchurch that are awaiting repair.

“Home insulation and clean heating are the most powerful ways to reduce the cold and damp in New Zealand homes, and reduce power bills.

“This is another example of our smart, green solutions for New Zealand,” said Mrs Turei.
ends

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