Kiwi houses exposed as health risk

ARRIVALS in New Zealand are often surprised at the poor quality of New Zealand houses, particularly if they come from the central-heated, double-glazed homes of the UK. You are left with the impression that Kiwis exist in cold and draughty prefabs stuck on the side of exposed hills with nothing but a pallet-fence and a piece of cracked glass between them and the elements.

As Andy Kenworthy writing in Idealog put it, "Insulation, draft [sic] proofing and efficient heating systems have traditionally been frivolous luxuries—strictly for those lacking the singlet, shorts and gumboot-wearing grit to make it through our South Pacific winters,"

But the impression is not all anecdotal. According to the New Zealand Business Council for Sustainable Development’s 2008 New Zealand Housing Survey, "more than a million homes are not adequately insulated," and, from a further report, "more than 410,000 homes could be making their occupants sick, some seriously."

Surveying over 3,500 New Zealanders about the state of their homes the report discovered:

45% of existing homes are mouldy
16% of homes have no insulation at all
21% of people aged 18–24 say their home is cold and uncomfortable
Typically more than one third of the energy used in the home is for keeping warm
Nearly two thirds of homes in New Zealand were built before insulation became a legal requirement in 1979.
More than a quarter of the nation's homes could be making their occupants ill

The report concluded that with warmer, drier homes that were more energy and water efficient, the country could:

Avoid sending 50 people a day to hospital with respiratory illnesses (saving $54 million pa)
Cut sick days off work by 180,000 a year (lifting production by $17 million pa)
Cut power bills by $475 million a year
Save enough water a year to fill 9,200 Olympic swimming pools.

Critically for Poms arriving and wanting the flexibility of renting while they settle in and explore their new country, the report said more than 75% of people who rented a home in the past two years did not check insulation, hot water cylinders, heaters and other water and energy efficiency appliances.

It's something to think about. Good homes are available for rent in New Zealand but there is no onus on the landlord to have an energy efficiency certificate, gas safety inspection or electrical test as it is in the UK.

These things are for you to organise, and for you to determine which homes will be difficult to keep comfortable. At least if you ask a direct question about a property the agent or landlord is legally required to give you a truthful answer. Whatever that might be worth.

Typical cost of renting

Tenancy Information

NZBCSD Full Survey