Friday 5th of June 2009

One of the more exciting things in what was a rather dull Budget last week was funding for home insulation jobs.

This is an idea the previous government started and National initially trashed when it took over the Treasury benches. Seeing it pick the policy up again is, pardon the pun, but warming news.

It’s also something which the media has really got its teeth into too.  There are plenty of stories about the “ice blocks” people live in and how cold New Zealand houses are.

Over the week I’ve also heard lots of stories about the old, cold houses and flats people have lived in before, and there are plenty of these stories.

The other thing which has caught my attention is how many people have asked about rental properties and whether landlords are going to get their investments insulated.

To me it is a no-brainer. Provide a good property and you will get better quality tenants, keep them longer and even charge higher rents. But unfortunately it seems not many investors have, in the past, been prepared to do this.

I hope that this attitude changes and landlords wake up to the offer which the government is making.

Meanwhile, if you are a landlord and have insulated a property I’d love to hear from you to find out how you went about it, and what the end result was. You can send an email to thelandlord@landords.co.nz