This winter, hundreds of Wellington families are enjoying warmer, drier, healthier homes thanks to Hutt Mana Charitable Trust (HMCT) and the Energy Efficiency Conservation Authority (EECA) Warmer Kiwi Homes programme.
The EECA Warmer Kiwi Homes programme makes it more affordable for low-income homeowners to purchase insulation and heating in New Zealand.
In the Hutt Mana area, the Sustainability Trust works in partnership with EECA and HMCT to deliver subsidies to eligible households in the area.
“It’s amazing to be able to help so many families,” says Marie Guerreiro, Sustainability Trust. “Because without the subsidy they just wouldn’t be able to afford it.”
The government has responded to the Covid-19 challenges by increasing the EECA Warmer Kiwi Homes subsidy from 67% to 90%. The HMCT funding further increases the subsidy to 100%, making insulation free to qualifying families that live in the Hutt Mana area.
“In the past financial year, the Hutt Mana Charitable Trust subsidised insulation to 171 homes in Porirua, Hutt Valley and north Wellington, at an average of $600 per house,” says Alan Platt, Smart Homes Manager, Sustainability Trust.
“The trust has helped us provide over $465,000 worth of insulation to local families.”
Hutt Mana Charitable Trust first provided funding to the Sustainability Trust for 160 homes in Porirua in 2004, and has been an active funding partner since then, providing a total of $2.5million to homes insulated or heated by Sustainability Trust.
Visit Sustainability Trust for more information https://sustaintrust.org.nz/healthy-homes