Last Friday’s announcement of the one-off three month extension is good news for those who are not yet in a position to make a decision on what Residential Red Zone offer to take.
Red zone property owners now have up to 12 months from the date on their offer letter or until 31 March 2013, whichever comes first, to accept the Crown offer by submitting a signed Agreement for Sale and Purchase to the Crown via their lawyer. The final settlement date remains at 30 April 2013.
CERA will be writing to property owners who have received an offer but not yet submitted a signed sale and purchase agreement. They should expect this letter in the next couple of days.
More than 4200 people have already accepted the Crown offer and the Government and CERA is confident the extension will help those who have yet to decide on Option 1 or Option 2.
Insured residential property owners in the residential red zone were originally given nine months to decide which of the two Crown offers to accept.
And just to reiterate, Option 1 is where the Crown purchases the property based on the most recent rating valuation for the land, buildings and fixtures, and takes over all insurance claims for damage to the property.
Option 2 is when the Crown buys the property at the most recent rating valuation of the land, with the Crown taking over the EQC claim for land damage only. Property owners retain the benefit of all insurance claims for the damage to their buildings and fixtures, and continue to deal with EQC and their private insurer to settle those claims.
CERA appreciates that the nine month deadline for some property owners to accept the Crown offer was approaching quickly, but it must be remembered that when the first offers were made no one could have anticipated the significant impact of subsequent earthquake events.
For some red zone homeowners the insurance details required to decide which option is best for them are still not clear. It is hoped the one-off three month extension to help those people.
As the Minster said last week, we are confident that insurance matters will be resolved in time for people to meet the extended deadline.
As always, we are here to help anyone talk through their issues on 0800 RING CERA. And I would also remind people to discuss such decisions as large as this with family and friends perhaps, but to also seek professional advice, to get the best possible advice and make the best decision.
Roger Sutton
Chief Executive
Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority
