The New Zealand College of Public Health Medicine (NZCPHM) is deeply concerned at budget cuts that will result in
scaling back of the Warmer Kiwi Homes scheme.
The scheme was put in place in 2018 and covers up to 90 percent of the costs to purchase and install insulation and an
efficient heater for eligible homeowners.
As part of announced funding cuts to the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority which administers the scheme,
subsidies for hot water heating, low-cost energy efficiency measures and an LED lighting scheme will end. Also to end is
funding for a community-focused outreach programme to target hard-to-reach households.
“We know that housing is a key determinant of health” says College President Sir Collin Tukuitonga. Several hundred
thousand families in Aotearoa New Zealand still live in cold, damp and costly to heat homes. This puts them at greater
risk of developing various illnesses such as asthma, requiring hospitalisation, and represents a huge cost to our health
system.
“Cutting back on initiatives like the Warmer Kiwi Homes scheme is shortsighted and makes no sense” says Tukuitonga. “A
healthy house needs to be warm, dry and well ventilated, with heating systems that are efficient and affordable”.
Interventions such as retrofitting insulation have been demonstrated to improve health outcomes, and provide significant
economic benefits.
Rolling back housing energy efficiency measures is also a retrograde step when it comes to climate change. “The
Government should be supporting initiatives that reduce our overall energy consumption, and therefore our greenhouse gas
emissions, particularly when these also have health co-benefits” says Tukuitonga.
For more information, see our Housing policy statement.