MEDIA RELEASE

26 November, 2015

Housing New Zealand completes 5000 house repairs in Christchurch

A massive programme to repair 5000 earthquake-damaged Housing New Zealand homes
has been completed ahead of target.

Housing New Zealand Board Chair Adrienne Young-Cooper said the work had greatly improved the quality of housing for an estimated 20,000 tenants across greater Christchurch.

The Canterbury earthquakes damaged about 95% of its properties, prompting the formation of the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Programme to undertake repairs to 5000 homes.

The target, set in 2013, was to complete 5000 repairs by December 31, 2015. The 5000th repair was completed earlier this month, several weeks ahead of schedule.

Mrs Young-Cooper said completing the 5000 repairs ahead of time was a great achievement and couldn’t have been reached without the support from Housing New Zealand’s partners on the ground and the commitment from the leadership team in ensuring the recovery of Christchurch remained the corporation’s key priority.

For Housing New Zealand Chief Executive, Glen Sowry, the programme not only repaired earthquake damage but presented an opportunity to make other property improvements at the same time.

In many cases, new carpet, vinyl, insulation, warm curtains, painting and new ventilation was added to homes while repairs were done.

Mr Sowry said the tremendous support and goodwill from tenants had allowed Housing New Zealand and its contractors to complete the repairs ahead of schedule.

“I want to personally thank all of our tenants for their support and understanding during the repairs programme. The tremendous goodwill our staff and contractors have received has been instrumental in Housing New Zealand completing its repairs programme ahead of time.’’

Earlier today, Mrs Young-Cooper and Mr Sowry accompanied Housing New Zealand Minister Hon Bill English to visit the 5000th repaired property, inspect the repairs undertaken and to meet with the happy tenant.

Mr Sowry also paid tribute to the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Programme team which had completed the massive work of repairing 5000 damaged homes.

“This has been a huge programme of work that has required a massive amount of organisation, planning and flexibility. I’m incredibly proud of how the team has accomplished its work so efficiently and well ahead of schedule.’’

“Their efforts, along with the fantastic support of our tenants, means our social housing stock in greater Christchurch is among the best in the country.

“This has been a tremendous effort by our team which has created an enduring legacy of social housing for this region,’’ Mr Sowry said.

ENDS

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