When did this idea that homes need to be warm come about? It's ridiculous. There are obviously some people who's circumstances make a warm home a requirement for health reasons, but your average healthy person can cope just fine living in a cold house with the aid of clothes.

I lived for three years in a christchurch flat which we did not heat at all. We had a logburner, but we never saw the need to use it since clothes, blankets, or a bit of good old exercise kept us warm for much less cost. It's really not that bad, and our health certainly didn't seem to suffer one bit -- if anything, we seemed to get less colds etc. than our peers.

Again, I'm not saying there aren't cases where warm homes are needed, but most people could just do with hardening up.

HA HA HA -Last month you were talking about global warming-make your mind up Minister.

Go away Mr Hughes better still go back to your old job - you were much more qualified. http://keepingstock.blogspot.com/2010/01/send-in-clown.html

Oh good one, we will create another army of council bureUCRATS running around in their 'warmth police' role, evicting tenants if its below temp? Good ol Greens, any excuse to increase rates or taxes to pay for more publicly funded parasites, more regulation, more laws, more nanny-state!

and then where will they live? Typical greenie, not a practical cell in his brain.

While I'd like the homes I rent to be warm and insulated, this seems very unfair. So a landlord who himself lives in a cold, uninsulated house would be required to make sure that his tenants abode is warmer and better insulated than his? You might want to re-think this, greenies.

Oh good! Finally! NZ houses (except newer ones) tend to be damp, cold and basically just protecting against water, not cold, not wind. I was in NZ for over 10 years, Loved the place and still miss it But the bad cold housing is one thing I do not miss at all. Back home now well insulated house and central heating. Bliss

Students and other poor people can't afford warm housing. They rent what they can afford. If the landlords are forced to renovate their houses they will pass on the bill by increasing rents, then students and poor people will have no where to live.

About time! Hopefully we can join the rest of the developed world and stop living in caves!

does he realise that as soon as all houses meet a new standard, rent will increase, making it even harder to afford housing? what's he going to do then? make it illegal to rain in winter because nzers who can't afford to live in a house won't like being rained on? what a dork