Buying or selling a home in Canterbury
If you’re interested in buying a home in the Canterbury region, it’s important to pay extra attention to the aspects of the home that were damaged by the Canterbury earthquake sequence.
Canterbury has a high number of homes that were damaged by the earthquake sequence. You should check any previous insurance claims to understand whether a home was damaged and what repairs might have been done.
Check whether a home has previous claims
When you’re buying a home, it’s important to do your research.
If you’re looking to buy in an area affected by a natural hazard event, you should take extra steps to find out about the condition of the home you’re going to buy and identify any risks and issues. In Canterbury, where earthquakes had a significant impact, this may mean obtaining structural or geotechnical engineering reports.
The first step should be to ask the seller about any natural hazards insurance claims. An example of the type of damage you may wish to ask about is damage that you are unable to see, such as damage to sewerage or stormwater drains, or inaccessible foundations
You may also need advice from experts about the electrical, drainage or plumbing elements of the property to ensure you’re fully informed of any potential issues.
Our Buying and selling a home with previous claims page has all the information you need to consider when looking to buy a home in Canterbury, including:
- the information you should request
- the difference between a Natural Hazards Commission Toka Tū Ake (NHC) assessment and a pre-purchase inspection from a licensed building practitioner
- section notices on the record of title
- the process for requesting NHC claim documents for a property
- the assignment or transfer of EQCover claims
- searching the Natural Hazards Portal to view any settled EQCover or NHCover claims on a property.
Make sure you consider any information about the property that you receive from us alongside all other information you find while researching the property.
Not all problems are due to natural hazard events — a house can have issues due to its design or maintenance, and houses also suffer from wear and tear over time.
You can find out more about the common maintenance items that are often mistaken for natural hazard damage in our guide to Maintaining your home.
