The unbridled conferring of executive power on Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee may be a constitutional outrage but the Orders in Council issued so far have been relatively innocuous.Indeed, some citizens, especially property owners, may consid
The unbridled conferring of executive power on Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee may be a constitutional outrage but the Orders in Council issued so far have been relatively innocuous.
Indeed, some citizens, especially property owners, may consider he should have moved more decisively on allowing demolitions of damaged heritage buildings that are interrupting the pace of recovery.
Dozens of businesses remain affected by road cordons and adjacent buildings that threaten to collapse. But one of the 14 Orders in Council made so far actually tightened up provisions to prevent building owners moving too quickly.
Most people would have little idea that Orders in Council have been made and neither the city council nor central government has made efforts to publicise them or explain in plain English what they mean.
On Monday of this week one of the Orders in Council available under the Canterbury Earthquake Response and Recovery Act 2010 absolves the city council from liability over information and timely provision of land information memorandums.
People trying to buy and sell property have been hamstrung by the council’s inability to obtain access to records held at the damaged offices of document storage company, Recall (land information requests, which contain more equally relevant information about known earthquake faults, soils (liquefaction), landslide and tsunami potential are available from Environment Canterbury but will need to be updated).
LIMs order not known about
Lindsay Lloyd of MDS who is involved in land transactions settlements was surprised to learn of the Order in Council concerning LIMs that had been passed on Monday. He said that land transactions were at a virtual standstill.
Another Order in Council gives local authorities the right to extend processing times of private plan change, while another waives the late processing penalty for consent processing. None of these had been advertised or explained. They are available for perusal at www.pco.parliament.govt.nz/pco-news/#earthquake.
The most awaited development for several thousand homeowners is the release of geotechnic reports from the Earthquake Commission that will tell each property owner whether their home will be rebuilt or their property can be remediated if the dwelling is beyond repair. Government agencies will attempt to contact each homeowner and Mr Brownlee and Prime Minister John Key are expected to make a general announcement within the next 10 days.
Meanwhile, Mr Brownlee has three new initiatives – a one-stop shop for major repair claims to help manage the repair of the 50,000 earthquake-damaged properties in Canterbury with damage assessed between approximately $10,000 and $100,000 of value. The Earthquake Commission will create a "one-stop shop" to handle every aspect of the repair for claimants, including the consent process. Its role will include handling repairs for householders; ensuring a design and build approach is taken; providing quality assurance; developing a needs-based prioritisation; sub-contracting and managing the, construction, repair and quantity surveying contractors.
Most damaged
The government and banks will seek agreement on large claim payouts over $100,000 for homes which are subject to bank mortgages. These claims are for the most seriously damaged houses and should ensure homeowners are not financially disadvantaged by changes to their mortgage resulting from an EQC payout.
Between when the EQC money is paid out and when it is spent on repairs, bank customers will get the benefit, either in the form of reduced interest on their mortgage, or interest earned if they choose to put it on deposit. Banks will also absorb the early loan repayment costs when customers’ mortgages change as a result of an EQC payout.
This week, a seminar for professionals focused on explaining issues around rebuilding property transaction settlements. Cavell Leitch Law revealed the new version of the Sale and Purchase Agreement 8th Edition to take account of local conditions.
