UPDATED: 5.59PM Andrew Little is over the line in his effort to get minimum insulation and heating standards imposed on rental homes.

His Healthy Homes Bill has passed its first reading in Parliament last night

The Labour leader told the House the principle behind his Bill is a simple one

"No New Zealander, adult or child, should have to live in a house that makes them or their children sick," he said.

"Every Kiwi kid deserves to grow up in a home that is warm, safe and dry."

His arguments managed to sway United Future leader Peter Dunne, meaning the Bill passed narrowly by one vote (61 votes to 60) and will proceed further.

But Building and Housing Minister Nick Smith described the Bill as flawed, lacking in detail, and not matching Mr Little's exaggerated rhetoric.

"My points about this bill is it is a fake. It does not guarantee healthy homes."

However, the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors is describing Mr Little’s Bill as a big win for Kiwis living in cold, damp and unhealthy rental accommodation.

Surveyors spokesman Nick Gaites said the legislation is likely to stimulate growth in the construction industry providing additional jobs.

But he said it could also increase cost.

"We think that a staged introduction of things like heating, venting and insulation is a better way to go, but ultimately we would like to see the standard of houses in New Zealand significantly raised."

Mr Gaites said the bill is an improvement on current Government policy, with the inclusion of heating and ventilation to the existing insulation requirements.

"Unless you provide heating, then the insulation doesn't really do much. And then when it comes to ventilation of properties which also isn't provided for with the current bill, ventilation is what increases improved indoor air quality."

Auckland Property Investors' Association vice-president Peter Lewis said requirements for landlords to install heating measures, such as heat pumps, don't get to the root of the issue.

He said low-income families won't be able to afford to run them, and the Government first needs to look at the cost of electricity.

"Or the social welfare is to provide some sort of voucher system where they can give such tenants a voucher that could be used to pay part of their power bill.

"We are talking of landlords basically as a Ma and Pa exercise. Many people just have one house but they used to live in it and live somewhere else, or the owner has died and left them a unit which they want to rent out, and so they don't necessarily have deep pockets."

NZUSA President Linsey Higgins is optimistic about the new Bill and its focus on requiring warm, dry, insulated housing.

“We believe if the government legislates for adequate ventilation, insulation and heating they will have achieved a trifecta that allows students to succeed at their studies

“We know that cold and mould is making it hard for students to succeed at their studies and remain free from what can be lifelong illness. Supporting students in their youth will reduce their dependency on the health system as they age.”

"We presented countless examples to the Select Committee on the government's Bill showing that students currently live in houses that make them sick, and that the current rules do not prevent this. Extending the minimum standards to include ventilation and heating, as Andrew Little's Bill does, will dramatically improve the lives of these students."

“Students just want to live in houses that don’t make them sick. We don’t think this is too big of an ask