Brendon Burns - property equity for those in the Red Zone

The following is an extract from Brendon's blog (here).

"With Christchurch colleagues, I asked questions in Parliament yesterday on whether equity is preserved under the Government’s dual-option offer to Red Zone residents. We asked those questions because many of our constituents heard and took assurance from comments that their equity would be preserved. Now they are coming up against the brick wall of brutal reality."

"Community indications in Avonside indicate many in that part of my electorate see themselves losing between $50,000 – $90,000 if they take the Government’s land and building option. The option to take the land settlement and negotiate with your insurance company can produce even bigger equity drops where houses have moderate damage that doesn’t trigger what insurers regard as Total Replacement payments."

"There have been on-going efforts by Government to deny that assurances on equity were given or to suggest they were made pre-February 22. Journalists have been told that this is not true. Our questions showed such assurances were being given as recently as after the June 13 event. If February changed things, people deserved to be told upfront. Instead we’ve had the continuation of Government double-speak; it has continued to give assurances on equity being preserved when in fact that is blatantly not the case for many people."

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