Home Buyers Inspired To Look At Properties Through ‘natural Hazard Lens’

The Earthquake Commission (EQC) has launched a new public education campaign – Home Safe Home? – to inspire home buyers to view a prospective property through a ‘natural hazard lens’.

Home buyers are an important audience for EQC because buying a home is a critical time some people might make risk-based decisions; while others might be willing to make additional investments to improve the safety and resilience of their new home.

Public Education Manager Hamish Armstrong says the message is clear; before you buy a home, find out how natural hazards might affect it.

“There’s a lot to think about when buying a new home. However, top of the list might not be how it will stand up to a natural hazard. The campaign is not intended to tell people not to buy a particular home, instead we want to encourage them to be more risk aware during the process. We want home buyers to consider actions they might need to take if they’re going to buy it,” Armstrong says.

“We hope this will continue improve people’s awareness of the natural hazard risks we face in New Zealand and help home buyers spot the risks that might affect them and their property before they buy.”

While previous campaign material focused more heavily on earthquakes, Armstrong says this was an opportunity to evolve the content to include more natural hazards and improving the relevance for more New Zealanders looking to buy a home.

The Home Safe Home? campaign looks at four types of hazards:

• Landslips
• Floods and tsunami
• Hazardous features
• Earthquakes

EQC research through Nielsen IQ shows that natural hazard awareness is high among home buyers, with 84% saying that they consider natural hazard risk as part of their purchasing decision. However, close to half of those think hazard risk is only ‘quite important' as opposed to 'very important'.

“We know we live with the risk of many different natural hazards here in Aotearoa,” Armstrong says.

“It’s really important that home buyers do think seriously about those hazards and how they might affect a new property. By doing this each buyer can make informed decisions that match with their own risk tolerance.”

Remember before you buy:

• Check local council files on the property that might help you understand any natural hazard risks associated with the property’s location, and to ensure any building or construction work has appropriate consents.
• Understand what features of a home might make it more at risk of damage from natural hazards. Consider the potential cost of any construction or repair work needed and talk with your lawyer about how this might affect your offer.
• Organise a home inspection report by an appropriately qualified professional such as an independent building surveyor or structural engineer to assess and identify possible issues.

Want to know what makes a safer home or perhaps you’re buying a home that’s had an EQC claim? EQC has lots of helpful information for home buyers at https://www.eqc.govt.nz/be-prepared/home-buyers/.

EQC’s Home Safe Home? campaign material will appear across multiple media and channels, including real estate websites.

© Scoop Media