It still seems a long way off (July 1st 2019) but time is running out to be eligible for an insulation grant for low-income earners and or their landlords. Yes its only 2017 but we are coming up to another winter and the fact that most tenants and landlords will leave it to the last minute to insulate their property, meaning you may have to wait for insulation past the deadline date.
If landlords don’t comply and have uninsulated properties after mid- 2019, landlords can face fines of up to $4,000.
Over the next 15 months the Government is offering insulation grants to low-income earners or their landlords, the subsidies are being offered through the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority EECA.
General manager of Residential, Robert Linterman, says
“We know that not only homes that meet the criteria for our programme but other rental properties that don’t that still need to be insulated – there’s probably 300,000 of those nation-wide, and the industry can only cope with about 70,000 to 80,000 insulation retrofits a year.”
“So people need to be starting to do it now because my view is that come the beginning of 2019, these guys will be flat out and MBIE’s view of the world will be, well, we’ve given you three years’ notice, why haven’t you done it?”
Linterman said the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) takes more than a million tenancy-related calls each year and from those calls it was building a data base of non-compliant properties.
So if you are a landlord and your rental property still hasn’t been insulation in the ceiling and floor spot checks will be carried out once the law has come into place.
If you are not sure whether your existing insulation is up to standard contact us and we will arrange for a qualified installer to check for you.
Insulation information
The cut off point for insulation is 1st July 2019
After this date you will no longer be apply to apply for a grant
Insulation must be in the ceiling and underneath flooring
Properties that so close to the ground or have insufficient space in the ceiling these will be exempt from the new laws that come in
Subsidy is only offered to home owners or rented homes whose tenants have a community card or have health issues related to damp or cold housingIf you are not eligible for a grant you may be able to add insulation costs to your rates, this is currently offered by 10 councils including Auckland and Wellington
If you are unsure whether you comply with the new laws coming in or that you would like to see whether you can apply for a grant please contact us so we can help you through the process.
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