Building a new home could become 50 thousand dollars more expensive

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment is looking at introducing new rules for insulation, saying our standards lag behind other countries with similar climates.

Changes could include homes in Central Otago and Southland needing triple glazing on their windows.

MBIE's building performance and engineering manager Dave Robson says our current insulation requirements aren't good enough.

He says they want to make sure they start to improve the building stock in New Zealand -- and that people are are able to afford to heat their homes.