Subsidy to warm up flats not used
The Government admits it wanted more cheap and cold rentals insulated by now, ahead of a 2019 deadline.
The admission comes as new figures show just over 4000 landlords have taken advantage of a government insulation subsidy budgeted for more than twice that.
They also show that compliance officers had taken up just one case about the lack of an insulation statement.
Around 1600 deaths are attributed to cold homes every year, Otago University research shows.
New rules introduced in 2015 mandated that all rentals that could have underfloor and ceiling insulation installed – about 180,000 homes – must have by July 1, 2019.
To help landlords with lowincome tenants an insulation grant was set up in July of 2016.
With this, the Government agreed to cover half of the costs of insulation for any landlord whose tenants had a Community Services Card, or had been told by a doctor that they had a condition relating to cold or damp housing.
However, in the year since the scheme’s introduction, just 4175 landlords had used the grant – far less than the 13,000 the Government expected.
In total, Energy Minister Judith Collins said she wanted 20,000 landlords to get the subsidy before it ended in 2018.
Building and Construction Minister Nick Smith said: ‘‘I’ve been getting around the property investor associations and stressing to them the importance of compliance.
‘‘My worry remains that landlords will leave it to the last moment, and then will seek lenience from the tribunal. The Government has no appetite for stretching that date forward.’’
There was no way to know exactly how many of the 180,000 suitable uninsulated homes had been insulated without the help of the government subsidy, but Smith said insulation industry representatives had told him they were busy.
Another new rule required all new tenancy agreements to have a separately signed list of insulation present.
However, the tenancy compliance team had taken up just a single case about a lack of an insulation statement in the year since.