Crown offer to insured residential property owners in the residential red zone

On this page:

 

The offer

If you own an insured residential property in the residential red zone you will receive an offer from the Crown to buy your property.

The following two options are available if you qualify for and wish to accept the Crown's offer:

Option 1 - the purchase price paid for your property will be based on the most recent rating valuation for your land, buildings and fixtures and the Crown will take over all insurance claims for the damage to your property.

Option 2 - the purchase price paid for your property will be the most recent rating valuation for your land and the Crown will take over your EQC claim for land damage only. You will retain the benefit of all insurance claims for the damage to your buildings and fixtures and will continue to deal with EQC and your insurer to settle those claims.

Read a full summary of your options [PDF 255KB]

 

Residential red zone settlement process

This video, featuring CERA's Wendy Rabbidge, outlines the residential red zone settlement process.

 

Complete a consent form

For the Crown to make you an offer to purchase your property, it needs information about your property and your insurance from the Earthquake Commission (EQC) and your insurer.

You need to complete and return a consent form before 31 March 2013 authorizing EQC and your insurer to share this information with the Crown.

You will receive a consent form in the mail or you can download it here:

Please post the completed and signed consent form to:

Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority
Private Bag 4999
Christchurch 8140
Attention: Consent form returns

 

Crown offer pack

Once you have completed and returned the consent form, you will receive an offer pack. The pack contains:

  • A personalised letter of offer to purchase your property
  • A booklet of supporting information including an explanation of the two options, advice on how to seek legal and other assistance, and answers to a range of questions about the offer and the sale process.

You can also download these documents:

 

Residential red zone sale and purchase agreement

Option 1A Agreement. This is the agreement for Option 1.

Please note that if a property is a unit title and the insurance policy for the property is held by a body corporate or the property is a cross lease and is insured under a policy that is jointly held with cross leas neighbours the Option 1B Agreement will need to be used.

Option 2A Agreement. This is the Agreement for Option 2.

Please note that if a property is a unit title and the insurance policy for the property is held by a body corporate or the property is a cross lease and is insured under a policy that is jointly held with cross lease neighbours the Option 2B Agreement will need to used.

Related information: Payout examples [PDF 20KB]

 

Residential red zone - on the move

Information for residential property owners who have accepted the Crown’s offer can be viewed on the Residential red zone property clearances page.

 

Questions and answers

See our Frequently Asked Questions for answers to questions about the offer, the purchase price, insurance, EQC, unit title properties, on the move, your neighbourhood.

 

Glossary

Agreement for Sale and Purchase - the agreement that you and the Crown will sign to record the terms on which you have agreed to sell your property to the Crown.

CERA - Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority

Cross lease - where, on one land title, there are several flats/houses that are each owned by a different person and together all those different persons own the land that the flats/houses are on; and they each lease the land that their own flat/house is on from all the other owners.

Crown - The Government

EQC - Earthquake Commission

Insurer - the insurance company that your house is insured with.

Settlement date - the date under Option 1 and Option 2 on which: You or your tenants must be out of the property. The Crown will make the final payment to you for your property. The Crown will become the owner of your property.

Tenancies - where people have a right to occupy a property (whether exclusively or otherwise) and pay some form of rent.

Unit title - where a dwelling owned by an individual that is part of a community of individuals (known as a body corporate) where each individual owns a unit and the community together owns the common property.

 

Red zone workshops

CERA has hosted a series of workshops for red zone property owners to help them understand the crown, insurance, land and property availability, rebuilding, renting and financial planning.

At the workshops, a large number of questions were asked. These questions and answers, as well as general advice and contact details for banks and insurers are available on our website here:

Red zone workshops »

 

Free professional financial advice for residential red zone property owners

If you want to talk through your financial options or need an action plan to help you achieve your financial goals, make an appointment for a free one-on-one consultation with a qualified professional financial adviser.

You can make an appointment to see a financial adviser by contacting the CERA Avondale Earthquake Assistance Centre on 0800 RING CERA (0800 7464 2372) or Kaiapoi Earthquake Hub on 0800 639 000.

Read more about the free financial advice consultations [PDF 350KB]

Inside you’ll find details of the free financial advice available to you and a checklist of things to take to your consultation.

Visit www.sorted.org.nz/redzone for further information.