Housing New Zealand
Had a great opportunity to meet with a representative from Housing New Zealand Corporation, located in Rotoura. Housing New Zealand is our equivalent of U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and is the New Zealand’s government’s key policy adviser on housing and services related to housing. Housing New Zealand own or manage more than 66,000 properties throughout the country, much like HUD’s section 8 program. Housing New Zealand offers:
1. Affordable rental homes to low incomes people
2. A range of home ownership options to low income people
3. Work to build strong and healthy communities
4. Improve the supply and quality of affordable housing
Under its program to improve supply and quality of affordable housing, Housing New Zealand has a program to improve homes built before 1980, aiming to provide comfortable, health homes with reduced future maintenance costs. This program also offers an energy efficiency program to improve heating and ventilation of homes built before 1977. This includes installing ceiling insulation, under-floor reflective insulation, ground moisture barriers, lagging under-floor water pipes, thermal wrapping for hot-water cylinders, and draught-stopping older wooden doors and windows.
New Zealand Housing has an environmental policy and objectives that are carried out through a detailed annual Environmental Sustainability Plan (ESP). Projects under way include:
- installing energy efficiency features in houses built before 1977
- participating in healthy housing research and modernization programs
- reviewing housing design specifications to ensure new properties are built with energy efficiency considerations
- informing tenants about energy efficiency
- providing more gardens and green areas in neighborhoods
- working to reduce energy use and waste within our offices
(Information made available by Housing New Zealand brochures and literature.)
