The housing portfolio has 275 units, each with a single bedroom, an open plan living area, and a separate bathroom.
They are located within 16 complexes built between 1946 and 1988.
The housing is available to rent for single people aged 65 or above, or, for a couple, of which at least one person is 65 or older.
Council parks and property manager Tania Henare said in mid-2025, it came to the council’s attention that not all units met the Healthy Homes standard, and upgrades were required to be completed by July that year.
By that date, all rentals had to have one or more fixed heaters with a minimum 1.5kW heating capacity that could directly heat a main living room.
Plugging in a spare heater does not comply.
A fixed heater can be a heat pump, woodburner, pellet burner, flued gas heater or an electric heater with a thermostat.
Henare said once the issue was identified, the council started work on a plan to roll out upgrades across all units in the portfolio.
“To date, approximately $40,000 has been spent with a number of heat pumps already installed,” she said.
“The total cost of the programme is expected to be around $405,000, and this will go to councillors as part of this year’s annual plan.
“It will go to market for tender once funding is approved.”
She said council housing currently had standard electric wall heaters in living areas, with the majority at 1.5kW or above.
Under the Healthy Homes standards, heating requirements were worked out using a heating assessment tool, Henare said.
“This takes into account factors like room size, window area, insulation and climate zone to calculate the heating required for the main living area.
“In most cases, a heat pump will be needed in council housing units to meet the requirements calculated under the standards.”
At a council risk and assurance committee meeting on March 5, interim chief executive Barbara McKerrow said a “line item” for the work was in the council’s draft annual plan for 2026/27.
“We’ve taken the view that it’s mandatory and it needs to be there,” she said.
“It’s a little behind time, but it’s being addressed.”
A council spokesperson said the heating project was not related to work on a new stand-alone housing entity, which aims to build 1000 new homes over 10 years.
It is being led by the council, with a partner eventually being sought.
The council’s older persons housing portfolio could transfer to the entity when it is established.
Mike Tweed is a multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily Whanganui District Council.
