Cosy Homes

 Cosy Homes Vision

"Every Dunedin home is warm and cosy by 2025".

This vision is bold and ambitious and intends that warm and cosy homes become the Dunedin norm within just over a decade.  It is estimated that approximately 47% of households in Dunedin suffer from ‘fuel poverty’. Many homes have residents living in cold and uninsulated properties.  Exposure to constant low temperatures presents a health risk for occupants and a drain on the Dunedin economy and health and social services.  Stakeholders identified the benefits of a ‘joined-up’ approach to deliver not only good health and well-being outcomes that will also be good for the Dunedin economy.

Healthcare is one of the biggest costs associated with poor quality housing.  A large number of both young and old Dunedin residents suffer unnecessary respiratory conditions as a result of living in cold houses.  Our topography, climate and housing stock presents a challenge that Cosy Homes will be addressing.

2014

Our Cosy Homes Governance Group's role is to provide leadership and direction to achieve the vison.  We have representation from a wide variety of backgrounds, including: community initiatives and action, landlords, funders, government agencies, housing providers, public health, local government, national organisations and research groups.

A range of projects and actions fall under the Cosy Homes umbrella, including the Cosy Homes 'Flash Mob' and free insulation retrofit programme in partnership with EECA and the Warm Up New Zealand Programme - all of which took place in the first half of 2014. Watch this space for new offers, and for links to the official Cosy Homes site (when it goes live). BRCT, as a member of Cosy Homes, offers independent Home Performance Assessments (HPA) for a modest fee from nationally certified Home Performance Advisors, for Dunedin residents wanting to take control of their home's energy performance and make simple, productive change for a warmer, healthier home. Contact us on [email protected] or on 03 48 22048 for details or to make a HPA booking.

2013

BRCT partnered with the Otago Community Trust, the Dunedin City Council and Presbyterian Support Otago to run a city wide "Cosy Homes" workshop in September with the goal of building a unified city approach to make every home in Dunedin warm & cosy by 2025.

“…adequate, warm and affordable housing is a key area of social wellbeing need for many in Dunedin”   DCC Social Wellbeing Strategy 2013.

Fuel Poverty in Dunedin requires a massive co-ordinated approach.  The Cosy Homes Workshop's aim is to build consensus and develop an action plan to make every home in Dunedin warm and cosy by 2025.  Inaction against substandard housing and its resultant poor health costs the community more in the long term than taking action now.

Read about the outcomes of the Cosy Homes Workshop here.

To find out more about the workshop and our Cosy Homes work, please email: [email protected] or call us on 03 4822048