More than a million New Zealand homes are not properly insulated. Almost half a million homes – a quarter of all houses in our country – could be making their occupants sick.

Why? Because they don’t have adequate insulation which means they are cold, damp, mouldy and drafty.

How bad is it?

A recent study found three quarters of homes do not have insulated walls, two thirds have no underfloor insulation and one in six homes have no insulation at all.

At the same time New Zealand has very high rates of asthma and respiratory infections - with children, the elderly and those on lower incomes the worst hit.

This can change. A comprehensive nationwide retrofitting scheme would make houses warmer, save on power bills, take pressure off our health system, cut absenteeism at work and schools, and create real jobs.