11 May 2015

Government must look at quake assistance to support business, says Chamber

The Government must urgently address the issue of financial assistance for owners required to upgrade earthquake-prone buildings, says the Wellington Employers’ Chamber of Commerce.

Chief Executive John Milford says there remains a strong case for some sort of help for building owners for required upgrades within the required assessment/upgrade window.

“With the Government confirming that building owners in Wellington have five years to have their buildings assessed and a further 15 to get them to the minimum 34% of the earthquake code, now is the time for this issue to be addressed.

“We all want building owners to ensure workplaces are safe, but obviously this is a hugely costly exercise.

“Wellington is a special case because the Government has rated it at the highest risk of the return of a significant earthquake at 120 years.

“The business community will be impacted hard by the timeframes set out – not just as owners and tenants of affected buildings, but also through bearing much of the cost.

“Many of the costs will be passed on to tenants when and where they can.

“Business is not looking for a hand-out. However, many – particularly small to medium ones – are struggling, and will struggle, to get their buildings up to code.

“Given the Government has identified this area as high risk, it should look at a specific Wellington model of financial assistance for building strengthening.

Mr Milford says the Government has a number of options. It could:

· Change the tax rules to capitalise and depreciate major building work or some other appropriate tax related adjustment

· Make five-year loans available at low interest rates while subsidising natural disaster insurance through the Earthquake Commission Fund for commercial properties

· Pay compensation directly to owners for the required upgrades

· Work with councils to roll out uniform rates remission policies

“It is the Chamber’s view that work on some sort of appropriate compensation package be considered as a matter of urgency.”

ends

© Scoop Media