Ngaro Alfred: Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill — Third ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeNgaro Alfred: Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill — Third Reading[Sitting date: 31 May 2016. Volume:714;Page:11517. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]ALFRED NGARO (National): I rise to take a call on the Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill in its third reading. Can I also too commend the Minister for Building and Housing and the Social Services Committee for the process through which we heard submissions on this bill.The previous speaker Phil Twyford talked about the issues around insulation and also the issues around heat pumps ventilation and heating in houses. That member would know about that because he was present with the advisers to hear that the Housing Improvement Regulations 1947 which still stand today still stipulate under that code that there be provision for both ventilation and heating. So nothing has been taken away; those provisions are still there. We know we had the territorial authorities talk about the fact of enforcement. We have talked about that and in a moment I will talk about the importance of how we enforce those measures that are there in the bill. I just want to set the record straight: provision is in there in the code of the Housing Improvement Regulations 1947 which still stipulate that there must be adequate ventilation and adequate heating. We know that on a number of occasions for some tenants it is the issue of just simply opening up windows curtains and so forth so there may be some form of education and support and information that needs to be given.Also the previous speaker talked about aspects of insulation and heating. I want to say that in Budget 2016 there is the Warm Up New Zealand programme which was part of the insulation of over 300000 homes throughout New Zealand. This was a subsidy that allowed for different landlords and owners to be able to apply to have a subsidy for the insulating of their homes whether they be rental properties or their own and also too inside that subsidy there was a provision for heat pumps. I just want to put on the record that there still is that provision. It is continuing on. There is about $36 million for that provision that is continued on. Can I put on the record that what has happened and is part of what this bill is ensuring is that we want to make sure that homes are warmer and drier and also safer.If we take the safety component of that one of the things that is important about this bill and one of its provisions is ensuring that every single rental property will have a smoke alarm by 1 July 2016. That is critically important because we know that there have been tragedies. The reports on that show there are some 129 potential tragedies that have happened per annum—annually—because of the lack of having adequate response. Therefore a smoke alarm is the first point of call to be able to warn the occupants of the premises. Now it is going to be mandatory. It is going to be mandatory right throughout and it is not going to have to wait until 2019—it is going to be mandatory by 1 July 2016. We have to say that this is an important part of this bill.The other thing I want to talk about is insulation. It is all very well to turn round and hold up big fluffy bits of insulation and show the small bits and then the big bits. It can actually create an image and a perception that the bigger bit is warmer than the smaller bit. What that member Phil Twyford will not know—and again I can remember as a tradesman going through many houses and many homes crawling up in ceilings and under floors doing the wiring and so forth. The majority of homes built in 1978 did not have the fluffy green bits. In fact those are called “green” Insulfluff which is actually a new product. Those are not the original products that were used. The product that was used was what they called Insulfluff. It was a spray-on product. So it is not a correct perception to create of the two sizes of insulation. Insulfluff is what was actually used back in 1978. Then came along Pink Batts which is a fibreglass substance and the product that was used before we had that “green” Insulfluff. So that comparison is not really a true picture.The other thing too is that if you look at the officials’ reports—if you think about the insulation from 1978; no insulation and 100 percent energy loss—it is in the report here. There is about 100 percent energy loss when you have no insulation. We know that; that is clear. When you have the standard from 1978 to 2008 the efficiency and the energy loss from that standard over that period of time was something like 58 percent which is to be regarded. However when you look at retrofitting in the current building code of 2008 energy loss was 48 percent. In other words though the members on the other side are saying we should retrofit to the new code you are talking about an efficiency of only 10 percent. The cost of that average form of retrofitting is going to be about $3400 per home. That is for a standard three-bedroom brick and tile house. When we talk about the cost of making sure we are efficient and effective in what we are trying to do this bill meets that.The last thing I want to say in my contribution to this third reading is that the new Healthy Homes Guarantee Bill (No 2) that has come out from Mr Andrew Little talks about the fact that this bill will make standards mandatory right across the board. If you read the details in the bill the mandatory aspect of that bill will not come in until 2023 whereas in this bill it comes in in 2019. They have to comply within that 3-year period to make sure there is insulation top and bottom and smoke alarms by 2016. This bill is going all the way. We have not done as the previous Labour Government did insulating 50000 homes in 9 years. In the National Government—the current Government—we are talking about 500000 homes to be insulated to be warmer to be drier and to be safer. This Government is pragmatic and it is practical. It is doing the things that make a difference. All the rhetoric on the other side is smoke and mirrors. When it comes to the details and to the facts in the reports they are what makes a difference. I am proud to commend this bill at its third reading and look forward to its implementation. I commend this bill to the House. Thank you.