Blue zone blues #1
Being zoned green is not the end of uncertainty, especially when large chunks of my electorate are now coded blue, meaning the most expensive foundation work is now required to meet the new building code. We were assured insurers were informed about the zoning and code changes yet constituents talking to their insurers are being told by insurance staff they only know as much as homeowners, each dependent on what’s in the media. It is not yet clear to homeowners who pays what when it comes to the now required individual geo-tech reports, engineering assessments and new foundations.
A lawyer friend living in now green-zoned Richmond North has also raised the question of what blue coded foundation work will do to property values. Her property requires new foundations (likely to start at $10,000 and perhaps several times that) but some neighbours do not. Will her neighbours’ properties be of considerably less value in a few years’ time? Perhaps we might get hope for some clarity at next week’s meetings.
Blue zone blues #2
People have received correspondence from CERA that doesn’t even tell them what Technical Category they are in, other than to say most of the orange zones that were rezoned are in TC3, the Blue zone. It then says ‘As a green property owner, you no longer have to wait for the results of any area-wide land assessment before getting on with the process of rebuilding or rebuilding your home if it was damaged by the earthquakes.’ Essentially the message is that there has been no site by site assessment – so what determined the dividing line between red and green? That is the question that we have been asking the Minister since July. Four months on and we have yet to receive an answer. Gerry Brownlee’s announcement on October 28 also said that ‘in some areas, small area-wide or coordinated land repair works may be more cost effective and it would make sense for property owners to work together’. But when asked what this will involve due to the different insurance companies, he was told – ‘it’s early days yet – we expect some more details to come during December’.
This information comes from Brendon Burns ‘Rebuilding Our City’ newsletter. – to join email: chchcentral@parliament.govt.nz