Homeowners will insulate if they can pay it off

Recent research shows that a majority of homeowners are willing to pay off the cost of upgrading the thermal performance of their homes but they can't afford a significant one-off, up-front cost.

At the current rate of Government funding it would take 60 years to insulate the rest of New Zealand homes according to the Chair and CEO of EECA who recently appeared before a Parliamentary committee. So, it seems that if the Government worked with the market to come up with the right mix of public and private funding options they could significantly speed up the number of homes being insulated.

The research report, released by The New Zealand Business Council for Sustainable Development, shows that given the right package 210,000 homeowners will take up private loans and public grants to upgrade the thermal efficiency of their homes in the next 12 months. This would be a major stimulus to the economy in recession.

The research also shows the right mix of public and private funding policies could result in more than 670,000 New Zealand homeowners improving the performance of their homes in the next 10 years. This scale of response will result in thousands of building sector jobs being secured as well as providing many other health, environmental and economic benefits from the improved thermal efficiency of New Zealand's housing stock.

The weighted survey of 2,610 New Zealanders, conducted by ShapeNZ in April, shows 71% of homeowners, and 61% of rental property owners, say their properties could be warmer and more comfortable. The major cause of inaction is cost: 59% say they don’t have the financial means.

The Business Council, working with the building, real estate, banking and energy sectors, homeowners and users and health groups, has proposed a range of public/private funding options.

“The key here is providing homeowners with capital up-front, then allowing them to pay it back through electricity and other savings, rate surcharges and reverse equity mortgages,” the Business Council’s Chief Executive, Peter Neilson, says.

Labour Party press release:
Sixty years more in the cold under Nat’s policy

New Zealand Business Council for Sustainable Development press release:
New funding packages will result in a mass home upgrade

Posted by Michael Lockhart on 7th May, 2009 | Comments (1) | Trackbacks
Tags: General Sustainability

The trackback URL for this page is http://www.econation.co.nz/trackback?post=3609226

Trackbacks

There are no trackbacks for this post

Comments

John Beck Property Vaultfpjbtvbs@ecwmm.com

Hi! Good post. Iâve noticed this new craze of John Beckâs program.I have bought this system and giving it a shot. My friend and I are currently studying his program.

Posted on 25 May, 2009 by John Beck Property Vault

Econation Blog