The government asked to intervene in the costs of repairing earthquake-prone buildings

Wellington City Council members want more help from the central government for the city’s earthquake-prone building owners, who face massive reinforcement bills.

The council has identified about 590 earthquake-prone buildings in the city that have yet to be repaired or demolished – less than half of which are required to be repaired by 2027.

This deadline has led to uncertainty as to whether the owners can afford the reinforcement work, and whether there is sufficient capacity in the construction sector.

The cost of earthquake strengthening is a huge responsibility for apartment owners at a time when the city is trying to encourage apartment living and the intensification of the inner suburbs.

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Wellington is considered a high-risk seismic zone and lies on many active fault lines.

Modeling by GNS indicates that within the next 50 years, there is a 50 percent chance of an alpine fault causing an 8 magnitude earthquake and a 30 percent chance of a Hikurangi subduction causing an 8 magnitude earthquake and tsunami.

Monique Ford / Stuff

Wellington Mayor Andy Foster wants more government support to strengthen the earthquake.

There is a 5 percent chance that the Wellington Fault will cause a 7.5-magnitude earthquake, which modeling predicts will kill 1,800 and injure 7,600.

At Thursday’s Infrastructure Committee meeting, council members agreed to investigate options to provide additional support to owners of earthquake-prone buildings, rejecting a “wait and see” approach.

Council members have repeatedly called on the central government to help support the owners.

“As a city, we try to deal with an earthquake before it happens rather than after it happens, and in a sense we get penalized for that because we don’t get the support that other cities have when they have the earthquake and the government goes in and helps them rebuild,” said Andy Foster, Mayor of Wellington. some of it.

A new national earthquake-prone building management system was introduced in 2017, which identified hundreds of additional buildings that would need to be strengthened or demolished and surprised many owners.

Wellington City Council acts as a regulator based on criteria set by the central government.

“This legislation is putting the people of Wellington under pressure at a time when we need housing,” said council member Sean Rush.

Monique Ford/Staff

Chancellor Iona Bannett is concerned that some building owners will not be able to meet the deadline for earthquake-strengthening work.

“I find it another hammer blow from the government to Wellington…our residents will be forced to leave perfectly good homes.”

Chancellor Iona Bennett wanted to see a financial aid package similar to the one that was offered in 2011 to fix leaky homes.

“This council has supported the legislation but we have been very clear that financial assistance must be provided to the owners,” Bennett said.

Geraldine Murphy, of the Inner City Wellington residents group, said apartment owners need security so that earthquake standards are not changed again without more support.

“It is unacceptable that those landlords who lose their homes and their savings face it again if they find another apartment that is also vulnerable to earthquakes,” she said.

Liz Kelly, Ngāti Toa Rangatira’s representative on the council, said she had personally considered buying an apartment but declined insurance costs.

The board has so far taken two building owners to court after the notice period expired, seeking permission to complete reinforcement work and recover costs from the owners after the incident.

An attempt by council staff to survey owners of earthquake-prone buildings returned results from only 240 owners, meaning the council doesn’t know what hundreds of building owners intend to do.

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