The New Zealand Government will offer to buy about 1000 properties in the Canterbury township of Kaiapoi, around one in five homes, after finding the land underneath them cannot be remediated following the February 22 earthquake.

Kaiapoi, about 17km north of Christchurch, sits astride a major river and has been badly affected by liquefaction. 

Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee says that of 1230 residential properties reviewed, only 220 have been zoned as suitable for the houses on them to be repaired or rebuilt. Another 70 require further investigation. 

He says the decision to effectively zone the remainder as “red” or beyond repair wasn’t easy and came after a huge amount of geotechnical engineering advice.

The land and infrastructure beneath the town is so badly damaged that all red-zoned houses will have to be removed before remediation work can start.

“Repair in all the red areas would not only require raising the height of the land but also a complete replacement of essential infrastructure like sewerage, water, electricity and roading,” Mr Brownlee said.

Homeowners have nine months to decide on the Government’s buyout offer and it can be accepted even if they have not settled with their insurer.

Property-owners have two options: to accept a complete buyout, in which case their insurance claim will pass to the Government; or to accept an offer for the land only and continue to deal with their insurer and the Earthquake Commission for the house value. In this case, the Government would take over the land claim.

Around 6000 houses in Canterbury province are now subject to the Government’s buyout offer.