Warmer Kiwi Homes Programme
Find out how we can help you live in warmer, healthier home with a heating subsidy.
What we do
The Southland Warm Homes Trust (SWHT) is a registered charitable organisation, first established in June 2008 by Electricity Invercargill Limited (EIL) and the Southland Power Trust (SEPSCT) to provide a structure to facilitate a warm homes programme for the people of Southland after a meeting of community groups and stakeholders in 2006 identified the opportunity. It was generally recognised that the winter climate and age of a
lot of houses in Southland contributed to cold, damp living conditions, a leading cause of respiratory illness in families, especially children and the elderly. Research has identified for every $1 spent on insulating a cold, damp house, there is a significant saving in hospital visits and related medical costs.
With the encouragement of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) and support from the respective EIL and SEPSCT board members, they decided to support energy efficiency initiatives for the benefit of Southland through the establishment of the Trust.
The SWHT consists of four Trustees and a project team of representatives and stakeholders from various funding and health organisations across Southland, all with a common interest to improve the health and wellbeing of low-income families by offering initiatives to improve living conditions and create warmer healthier homes.
With the valuable support from EECA throughout the years providing insulation and heating programmes and significant Government funding, and the ongoing support of local community funding partners, the Trust has continued to subsidise the installation cost of home insulation and heating units in over 10,000 homes across Southland and West Otago, over the past 15 years.
The vision of the SWHT is to ensure “Southlanders” have:
- a more energy efficient home
- an improved living environment
- improved well-being
The SWHT subsidy is offered to home owners in Invercargill and across the Southland region, stretching into parts of West Otago where the boundary of The Power Company Ltd electricity distribution network reaches.
Reporting is carried out for the various schemes by geographical regions to satisfy the Primary Health Organisations (PHO) and Territorial Local Authorities (TLA) and other regional funders that activity has taken place within their regions.
The Project Team members meet quarterly and are informed about how the project is progressing.
Area covered
Trustees
The four Trustees of the Southland Warm Homes Trust (SWHT) have been actively supporting community health and wellbeing initiatives across the Southland
region for several years. With representatives from Invercargill City Council, Gore District Council and the Southland Electric Power Supply Consumer Trust
(The Power Trust), the SWHT is grateful to have the support and experience provided by the Trustees, and owes a significant part of the success and achievements
to the past and present Trustees.
The Trustees are appointed by the Southland Electric Power Supply Consumer Trust and Electricity Invercargill Ltd, as settlors of the SWHT, in accordance with
the Trust deed.
Cr Lesley Soper
Lesley has been Southland Warm Homes Chair since November 2022, after being appointed as a Trustee in 2019.
Lesley is an elected representative on the Invercargill City Council and a former elected member on the Southern District Health Board.
Invercargill is my turangawaewae, my home and heartland. I want to be part of creating significant change at the local level to ensure Invercargill remains
a vibrant, exciting place to live and visit.
Carl Findlater
Born in, and a resident of Southland.
Engineering past studying NZCE, Marine Steam, and Design, working in the meat, paper and timber industries. Spent some time in the education sector, holding a teaching Certificate along with contemporary adult learning and assessing qualifications.
Over the years I have been a Director on various Boards and Trusts. FITEC (Wood Industry Training Organisation), family business in forestry, sawmilling, retail and industrial maintenance.
Trustee of the Waimea Plains Railway, and I have served as a Board member of Energy Trust of NZ (ETNZ).
Chair of Solid Wood Processing Training Association and former member of the NZ Institute of Marine & Power Engineers (Ret).
I am an advocate of local ownership, and the Trust model of achieving this. Monopoly businesses must be held in public hands, where everyone shares in the benefits and returns.
Interests include a life time involvement in motorcycling, heritage steam equipment and voluntary social work. Love to read, watch movies, and converse. A believer in consensus decision making, and keeping those one represents front of mind.
Stephen Canny
It has been a privilege in recent years to represent your interests.
I have recently managed the development of Southland’s fourth Regional Energy Strategy, following on from successfully advocating for the review of the Transmission Pricing Methodology, all aimed at creating a blueprint for the delivery of reliable and affordable electricity for Southland households and businesses over the next 30 years.
Prior to the establishment of the Southland Warm Homes Trust, I was responsible for evaluating the feasibility, benefit, and the positive impacts that would accrue, by establishing for residents investment in healthy warm homes. I am pleased to say that over 10,000 homes have now been retrofitted, resulting in significant benefits to many people that were previously impacted by cold, damp homes. As a result, there has been a corresponding reduction in hospital admissions, as well as poor health related reductions in school and work-related absenteeism.
I am very pleased to be a trustee of the Southland Warm Homes Trust and look forward to expanding the reach of the programme-
Cr Keith Hovell
Keith has been appointed to the Warm Homes Trust on behalf of Electricity Invercargill Ltd. He is the Deputy Mayor of the Gore District Council and is Chair of the Council’s Policy and Regulatory Committee, Chair of the Hearings Committee and a member of the Council’s Community Services Committee. Keith is also Chair of WasteNet.
Keith worked as a resource management planner for more than 40 years, initially employed by the Ministry of Works and Development based in Wellington, Auckland and Dunedin, but later as an independent consultant and business owner, predominantly in the Otago and Southland regions, representing a range of private clients and Councils. He holds qualifications in economics, planning and statistics.
Keith is now retired and lives on a 4-ha block near Gore where he is progressively planting out areas of indigenous vegetation to increase the habitat for native birds and other species. He has two daughters, fours grand-daughters and one grandson, and in his spare time enjoys time with family, fishing the rivers of Southland, golf, and exercising his two dogs.
Keith as a child, experienced health issues associated with living in cold and damp conditions and is keen as a Trustee to the Warm Homes Trust to assist in providing well insulted and warm homes to ensure others do not face the same issues he did.
EECA Programmes
The Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) is a New Zealand Government agency responsible for promoting energy efficiency and conservation. EECA was set up in 1992 to encourage, support and promote energy efficiency, energy conservation, and the use of renewable sources of energy.
In 2004, EECA launched the Energywise Home Grants Programme to provide insulation retrofits to low-income owners of homes built before 1978. That year, minimum insulation standards were introduced to the New Zealand building code, and the majority of homes built prior to this had no insulation at all. Over the following 18 years, the New Zealand Government introduced several different subsidised insulation programmes and heating initiatives allocating significant amounts of funding to improve the conditions and health of low-income households living in cold, damp, unhealthy environments, particularly households occupied by children and/or the elderly.
During its first 14 years of operation, the SWHT was a contracted service provider of the EECA subsidised insulation programmes in Southland. It managed the installation of over 10,000 homes and attracted Government funding of over $18 million for low-income homes. From 2022 the Warmer Kiwi Homes programme contracted directly with the installation providers.
The current EECA subsidy programme is the Warmer Kiwi Homes programme, providing 80-90% funding for eligible homeowners, with SWHT providing an additional 5-15%, to maximise the opportunity and make the offer as affordable as possible to homes that would otherwise not be able to afford to insulate or install an efficient heating unit.
The Trust has a very supportive and constructive relationship with EECA – regularly meeting to discuss progress and developments. It is important to acknowledge the significant contribution this organisation has made to the achievements of the Trust over the past 15 years, and to the homes that have benefitted from this very successful relationship.
Our Relationships
PowerNet
PowerNet builds, maintains and manages electricity assets across Southland and Otago on behalf of the electricity owners – The Power Company Ltd, Electricity Invercargill Ltd, OtagoNet Joint Venture, Lakeland Network Ltd and the Southland District Council-owned Stewart Island Electrical Supply Authority. We’re jointly owned (50-50) by The Power Company Ltd and Electricity Invercargill Ltd. PowerNet has provided administration support to the Southland Warm Homes Trust (SWHT) for over 15 years.
Awarua Synergy
Awarua Synergy has been a service provider to the Southland Warm Homes Trust (SWHT) for over 10 years, contracted to manage the insulation and heating assessment and installation operations on a day-to-day basis on behalf of the Trust. The friendly team assist with enquires and eligibility criteria requests for Warmer Kiwi Homes (WKH) subsidised programmes. The team can also assist with other general income or health related insulation subsidies offered by SWHT.
Awarua Synergy is also heavily involved in community projects relating to creating healthier homes and provides educational workshops to community groups and organisation
Hotspot Installations
Hotspot Installations Ltd are a registered Warmer Kiwi Homes heating provider in Southland, based in Invercargill, specialising in the installation of wood burners.
Premier Insulation
Premier Insulation is a registered Warmer Kiwi Homes insulation provider in Southland, based in Invercargill, specialising in insulation installation.
Southland Home Ventilation
Southland Home Ventilation Ltd are a registered Warmer Kiwi Homes heating provider in Southland, based in Invercargill, specialising in the installation of heat pumps.
Numbers and Stats
In an industry where we aim to help less fortunate families and make a difference to the health and wellbeing of our community, we would love to celebrate all the many Trust achievements over the last 15 years – however there are many…so here are some of the key highlights:
…offering subsidised insulation and heating to the people of Southland.
…of funding received since the beginning in 2008. $18m of the NZ Government funding through EECA programmes, and almost $8.2m of local community funding.
…receiving subsidised insulation or an efficient heating appliance through the support of the Southland Warm Homes Trust.
Annual Performance Report
The Southland Warm Homes Trust prepares an audited Annual Performance Report – here is the latest available report:
(For previous Annual Performance Reports, or queries relating to the reported information, email SWHTadmin@powernet.co.nz)
Summary
- The Year ending 30 June 2023 was another successful year for the Southland Warm Homes Trust:
- 1016 homes received a SWHT subsidy for home insulation and/or heating units installation – consistent with the 1,043 claims made in the previous year.
During the year
- SWHT provided a subsidy of $15% of installation costs to those eligible to receive the EEA Warmer Kiwi Homes 80% subsidy with an aim to help make the programme more affordable to those low-income homes who may otherwise miss out on the benefits of a warmer, drier, healthier home.
