$500k boost for warmer Rotorua homes

Rotorua resident Nicole Miller and her three children, Alexis, 7 months, Kupenga, 2, and Ella, 4. PHOTO/SUPPLIED

People living in Rotorua's cold and damp homes can now get insulation retrofitted thanks to a grant of $500,000.

The Rotorua Energy Charitable Trust has announced it will give $500,000 over the next two years to the Healthy Homes programme, a Government-subsidised programme administered by the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority. It enables the retrofitting of insulation into homes of low-income families, especially those with children.

Healthy Homes programme provides grants for up to 60 per cent of the cost of insulation and is available only to owner-occupiers. Project partners - such as the Rotorua Trust - top up the government grants to provide free insulation to eligible households.

One Rotorua resident who has been helped out by the programme is Nicole Miller, a mother-of-three whose family home was insulated in May.

"Prior to our home being insulated as part of the Healthy Homes programme my children were constantly sick with colds and runny noses," Ms Miller said. "We would have the fire going but that didn't keep the whole house warm, and the heat we did have would escape during the night."

She said she had planned to insulate their home "eventually" but it wasn't going to happen any time soon with quotes beyond what the family could afford. She said she could barely believe it when told funding was available for it to be done for free. "Now that we have insulation, our house is warm all day. And at night, the heat is kept in. When we get up in the morning I don't have to dress my kids in beanies and dressing gowns, because it's comfy and warm.

"We are so grateful to the supporters of the Healthy Homes project. All I wanted was for my kids to be warm, and this funding has allowed that to happen. It's the most wonderful thing I could ask for."

Trustee Paul East said the Rotorua Trust had been a cornerstone supporter of the Healthy Homes programme in Rotorua for the past nine years. "The trust began supporting Healthy Homes in 2005 and has since provided total funding of $300,000 benefiting approximately 250 homes in total," he said.

"Feedback from residents over the years, like Nicole, has highlighted the importance of better insulation provided through the Healthy Homes programme."

The trust has partnered with WISE Better Homes, a Waitara-based trust to deliver the programme in the city.