An insulation programme with potential to warm thousands of Northland houses is not under threat despite the Government breaking a $1billion promise.
The region is still on target to have 4000 privately owned houses insulated to modern standards within five years.
Opposition MPs have roundly criticised the National-led government for pulling the
plug on the Green and Labour Parties' 2008 budget boost of $1billion, over 10 years, to help private house owners taking part in the nationwide "healthy homes" insulation programme.
But the current Government is denying any money has been scrapped as it never existed in the first place.
"It was only ever an election promise," Housing Minister and Whangarei MP Phil Heatley said.
"When we opened the books to see where this money was, it just wasn't there.
"It was a mystery where it was to come from."
The National Party has announced it will increase funding for upgrading state houses by $15 million and continue subsidising the cost of making private rental houses more energy efficient, Mr Heatley said.
Northland groups are not bothered about the theoretical loss of the region's share of the mythical $1 billion funding. Nor are they concerned that any capping of funding could put local people out of jobs who are currently working on the retrofitting scheme.
Community, Business and Environment Centre in Kaitaia is planning on expansion rather than cutting back its insulation initiatives - which meant jobs as well as health benefits, manager Cliff Colquhoun said.
"At the moment we have another three years contract to provide our services. The government's funding is only a small part of it anyway, about 25 per cent," Mr Colquhoun said.
Most of the subsidies the centre passed on to clients came from community trusts, local authorities, health, ASB funding and other non-central government sources. Northland would not get any of the extra $15 million funding for state housing as all eligible Government-owned houses had already been upgraded, Mr Heatley said.
The region had been a pilot for the "healthy homes" initiative, along with Auckland, Counties Manukau and Hutt Valley.
The five-year retrofitting task on 700 pre-1978 state houses was completed last year.
