Hawke’s Bay Regional Council’s Environment and Services Committee today recommended to roll out a new Sustainable Homes programme from 1 October 2018.

The aim is to make homes in Hawke’s Bay more sustainable and resilient.

The Sustainable Homes programme was approved as part of this year’s Long Term Plan 2018-28 to encourage the use of solar energy, domestic water storage and upgraded septic tanks.

The programme is supported by a Sustainable Homes policy and criteria for a voluntary targeted rate. This includes transitioning the current Heatsmart programme to sit under the umbrella of Sustainable Homes.

“This is a great move for council to be assisting people to have more sustainable homes,” says Councillor Paul Bailey.

“There are significant taxation advantages in the voluntary rate system for landlords and investors, and we have a high proportion of housing stock in Hawke’s Bay held by investors, which means good potential for the uptake of this offering to help make homes more sustainable and resilient,” says Councillor Alan Dick.

The programme will give assistance to homeowners to install solar systems, water storage to improve resilience in an emergency and to replace older septic tanks. This service will be funded by fees charged direct to those who take up the offer of Council assistance. The scheme is fully cost-recovered, through a voluntary targeted rate on specific properties, so there is no impact on general ratepayers.

The programme favours Hawke’s Bay-based suppliers.

The Regional Council will meet to finalise this recommendation on 26 September.

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