Over half of repair fund left unspent

Building owners with dangerous facades used less than half of a $4.5 million government repair fund set aside after the 2016 Kaiko¯ura earthquake.

Wellington building owners accounted for $1.6m of the $1.8m that was distributed through grants as of December 10, according to information released under the Official Information Act.

A Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) spokeswoman said a decision on the unspent $2.7m would be made in the new year.

MBIE has distributed $1.09m of the total payments, while councils in Marlborough, Hutt Valley, and Wellington dished out the remaining $800,000 for repairs.

Wellington building owners received the bulk of the fund, while Hutt City building owners got $56,109 in total, Marlborough district building owners were granted $18,196, and building owners of a fourth affected council, Hurunui, received no money from the fund.

The fund, set aside under legislation passed after the Kaiko¯ura earthquake, was made up of a $3m contribution from central Government and $1.5m from the four affected councils.

The fund remains open for applications until December 31 but Wellington city councillor Iona Pannett hoped the remaining funds would remain available to encourage building owners to address their earthquake-prone buildings.

‘‘I’m not sure why there was so much money left over but, to me, it suggests it was quite difficult to go through the process to get the money out.’’

Pannett said there were ‘‘too many barriers’’ for building owners seeking public money.

In February, the funding caps were raised for larger buildings – from $25,000 to $65,000 for buildings three storeys and higher. For buildings two storeys and under, the cap is to remain at $25,000.

Pannett said councillors were talking with Finance Minister Grant Robertson to continue the public fund for building owners for necessary seismic repairs.