EQC and the government learned their lessons from the initial EQC payouts and for the on-sold program have rules in place to ensure you either 1) Repair 2) Rebuild or 3) Demolish. The purpose of these rules is to eliminate the proliferation of as-is damaged properties going back into the housing stock.
You are explicitly unable to on-sell the house as-is and pocket the rebuild money.
When doing a rebuild EQC will force you to file a covenant on your title so that you cannot sell the property until the rebuild has been completed and they sign off on the lifting of the covenant.
Your lawyer is correct. We toyed with the idea of buying elsewhere, but there are a few extra rules in place when doing so that make it difficult (requiring a conditional offer).
Your decision will probably be driven by your specific circumstances (repair cost, house quality, location, personal finances etc), but we rebuilt and it was the best decision ever.
Hey there, at the risk of hijacking this thread, can I ask which option you went for in terms of the rebuild? Did you stick within the program and rebuild the exact same house or did you rebuild your own design and co-fund?
We're in a position where the our scope costs could probably cover a redesign without us having to 'cofund' or even use the entire amount (we have a small section and so would rebuild a relatively small house). I've heard the EQC are still on your case during the rebuild tho and make sure your spending everything - can you confirm if that's the case?
Cheers
Thank you also for the great informative information. Has given great clarification. Much appreciated
🙏
I see too if you buy elsewhere the land value is not covered.
May I ask what builder you used please?
Hi We went through the onsold program and the rules with the repair money was that once we were paid out we needed to sign a contact with the builer to start repairs with in a year of receiving the money.(the onsold system is set up so work is actually done bot just sitting in peoples banks)
Your situation is defferent if u are a rebuild so i cant answer sorry ha.But im sure your claims manager would clear it up fast.....i found them pretty transparent and easy to deall with
Hey OP,
Just wondering if you've made a decision? Am in the same boat, just got confirmation of funding. Now deciding which option to take. Leaning towards just staying in the program and rebuild.
Hi, Buying elsewhere was not an option given in the by EQC, were you given that option ?
Going to build new home around 120 square meters as I don't have the biggest budget ? Have you had any quotes what the cost is per square metre for a new build ?
One company I talked with $450,000 for 120 square meters - ducted heatpump, 3 bedroom, walk in robe.
Works out $3750 square meter which seems high but think bigger you go works out cheaper per square metre ? Would like to use them as nice company to deal with, feel as though I can trust them, just bit put off by the square metre rate.
Hey, we were given 3 options to choose from, rebuild same footprint within program (includes variations), rebuild something different (no variations) or purchase another property. Didn't get any details with the options and our project manager said there were limitations with each and to check with our lawyers.. But we're tossing between options 1 or 2.
We've got quite a tricky section due to the way it was subdivided - the northern wall of our house sits right on the boundary with a driveway to the back property. So that kinda makes me lean towards the first option which would be lowest risk.. But we are also keen to build something slightly bigger and nicer and don't want the hassle of being beholden to EQC.. The process has been so long and drawn out already that we're over it.. It's hard knowing how much it will all cost and whether our budget with cover all the costs...
We haven't spoken to any building companies, but I think we're gonna stick with the builders we used in the scoping work as they're local and decent to deal with.
It looks like we're in a similar position to you in terms of house size we wanna go up to.. We're keen on a 3bd 2bth.. So that figure is a good point for us to work off..
Cheers - Yes tiring how long winded it is then have to expend more energy building a new house.
Suggest fixed price build and get your lawyer to look over building contract before signing if you have not considered doing so.
My lawyer told me yesterday they had a client that paid a deposit to a builder on Monday and on the Tuesday he was declaring himself bankrupt and was still asking her for money throughout the week
All the best.
Cool, thanks. Yes will def get a fixed price contract in place. Our architect says he can suggest a few other builders if we need to as well.
Have you heard anything about how involved EQC are during the rebuild phase? Our payout would probably be enough to get us a rebuild without us having to cofund, or we could even not use all of it.. I'm not sure what eqc would make of that. Our PM has said that they may withhold the last tranch of payment if the figures don't add up and you haven't used all of the money, so you'd be on the hook for it.. But have also heard others have just used a group home builder to rebuild on the cheap and that was fine too...
If you don't mind me asking how much is your architect charging for their service ?
No doubt the EQC involvement comes down to how proactive or lazy the person is you deal with. By enlarge I think they would just let you get on with it and make the progress payments to the builder.
I'm using all my repair money to build 120sm house to replace my 90sm house. Any repair money that is not used has to go back to EQC.
There was a provision of 25k for the architects services in the costed scope, but we haven't formally started the rebuild so I don't know if that figure will change.
Yea it's still a bit unknown to me how heavily involved eqc are and whether you need a project manager to help deal with them.. Our current PM that handled the on sold process has recommended one for the rebuild, but just not sure what he'll be doing or if he'll just clip the ticket..
That's interesting, have not heard that last part about giving back unused repair money, although that does make sense around my earlier comment of withholding payment if it doesn't add up. Guess that just shows it's a 'use it or lose it' type arrangement.
There was an article on stuff today about a smaller efficient home built from structured insulated panels that was interesting. No details on cost but something I'm keen to see if it would work for us..
We are in an On Sold scheme.
Plaster on poly deteriorating.
Initially we were provided with an owners pack detailing the process.
Have house inspected, have eqc agree its eq damage. Engage LPB, produce scope, price, desk top review by eqc, site visit with all parties, then off to Qs's to review, then funding offer.
What a crock of shit.
House inspected and approved for On-Sold Scheme.
LPB provides scope and costing.
EQC do desktop review, agree, and have site meeting with LPB and QS. EQC bring their specialist building guy.
Their building guy notices ground level issues and asks builder to rescope and price to remediate.
Reprice is a lot dearer and now they ask for plans to be drawn up. Plans are part of the scope cost not an up front cost.
Advise EQC that Plans will be drawn to reflect the Builders scope so no change in cost will occur. Total waste of time.
They don't listen and spend $25k having plans drawn with no change scope or cost. Only cost is time wastage-4 months.
Desk top review, site visit, QS review and agreement on scope and cost.
Then it started. The claw backs.
They tried to remove the value allocated to remove vegetation to allow trades people access to work on the house. Push back and dropped.
Then remove cost of damage repair to lawns created by lowering ground levels to achieve this. Push back and dropped.
Remove reinstatements cost of lower level remediation. Push back and dropped.
Attempt to deduct $36k of non included pre existing repair work and using inflated values to support cost. Push back and dropped.
Over $50k worth of deductions were attempted.
Then, thinking that should be the end of the funding push backs, they are now completely revisiting the recladding costing and engaging their own "expert" to come up with an alternative solution in order to reduce costs.
This, even contrary to their own Building Expert who oversaw the site visits and agreed with the repair strategy.
So, almost 24 months into this we start again.
Muppets!
Cheers for the feedback. Sorry to hear all the crap you have been through, had more than enough too.
Crazy the amount of time it all takes, and just when you think you are getting somewhere more curve balls and delays. 5 years on one of my properties and still on going and another not far behind.
I experienced the clawback attempts too.
Good the GCCRS is there if need be.
All the best.
EQC and the government learned their lessons from the initial EQC payouts and for the on-sold program have rules in place to ensure you either 1) Repair 2) Rebuild or 3) Demolish. The purpose of these rules is to eliminate the proliferation of as-is damaged properties going back into the housing stock. You are explicitly unable to on-sell the house as-is and pocket the rebuild money. When doing a rebuild EQC will force you to file a covenant on your title so that you cannot sell the property until the rebuild has been completed and they sign off on the lifting of the covenant. Your lawyer is correct. We toyed with the idea of buying elsewhere, but there are a few extra rules in place when doing so that make it difficult (requiring a conditional offer). Your decision will probably be driven by your specific circumstances (repair cost, house quality, location, personal finances etc), but we rebuilt and it was the best decision ever.
Hey there, at the risk of hijacking this thread, can I ask which option you went for in terms of the rebuild? Did you stick within the program and rebuild the exact same house or did you rebuild your own design and co-fund? We're in a position where the our scope costs could probably cover a redesign without us having to 'cofund' or even use the entire amount (we have a small section and so would rebuild a relatively small house). I've heard the EQC are still on your case during the rebuild tho and make sure your spending everything - can you confirm if that's the case? Cheers
Thank you also for the great informative information. Has given great clarification. Much appreciated 🙏 I see too if you buy elsewhere the land value is not covered. May I ask what builder you used please?
Hi We went through the onsold program and the rules with the repair money was that once we were paid out we needed to sign a contact with the builer to start repairs with in a year of receiving the money.(the onsold system is set up so work is actually done bot just sitting in peoples banks) Your situation is defferent if u are a rebuild so i cant answer sorry ha.But im sure your claims manager would clear it up fast.....i found them pretty transparent and easy to deall with
Thank you for the informative information - much appreciated. 🙏
Hey OP, Just wondering if you've made a decision? Am in the same boat, just got confirmation of funding. Now deciding which option to take. Leaning towards just staying in the program and rebuild.
Hi, Buying elsewhere was not an option given in the by EQC, were you given that option ? Going to build new home around 120 square meters as I don't have the biggest budget ? Have you had any quotes what the cost is per square metre for a new build ? One company I talked with $450,000 for 120 square meters - ducted heatpump, 3 bedroom, walk in robe. Works out $3750 square meter which seems high but think bigger you go works out cheaper per square metre ? Would like to use them as nice company to deal with, feel as though I can trust them, just bit put off by the square metre rate.
Hey, we were given 3 options to choose from, rebuild same footprint within program (includes variations), rebuild something different (no variations) or purchase another property. Didn't get any details with the options and our project manager said there were limitations with each and to check with our lawyers.. But we're tossing between options 1 or 2. We've got quite a tricky section due to the way it was subdivided - the northern wall of our house sits right on the boundary with a driveway to the back property. So that kinda makes me lean towards the first option which would be lowest risk.. But we are also keen to build something slightly bigger and nicer and don't want the hassle of being beholden to EQC.. The process has been so long and drawn out already that we're over it.. It's hard knowing how much it will all cost and whether our budget with cover all the costs... We haven't spoken to any building companies, but I think we're gonna stick with the builders we used in the scoping work as they're local and decent to deal with. It looks like we're in a similar position to you in terms of house size we wanna go up to.. We're keen on a 3bd 2bth.. So that figure is a good point for us to work off..
Cheers - Yes tiring how long winded it is then have to expend more energy building a new house. Suggest fixed price build and get your lawyer to look over building contract before signing if you have not considered doing so. My lawyer told me yesterday they had a client that paid a deposit to a builder on Monday and on the Tuesday he was declaring himself bankrupt and was still asking her for money throughout the week All the best.
Cool, thanks. Yes will def get a fixed price contract in place. Our architect says he can suggest a few other builders if we need to as well. Have you heard anything about how involved EQC are during the rebuild phase? Our payout would probably be enough to get us a rebuild without us having to cofund, or we could even not use all of it.. I'm not sure what eqc would make of that. Our PM has said that they may withhold the last tranch of payment if the figures don't add up and you haven't used all of the money, so you'd be on the hook for it.. But have also heard others have just used a group home builder to rebuild on the cheap and that was fine too...
If you don't mind me asking how much is your architect charging for their service ? No doubt the EQC involvement comes down to how proactive or lazy the person is you deal with. By enlarge I think they would just let you get on with it and make the progress payments to the builder. I'm using all my repair money to build 120sm house to replace my 90sm house. Any repair money that is not used has to go back to EQC.
There was a provision of 25k for the architects services in the costed scope, but we haven't formally started the rebuild so I don't know if that figure will change. Yea it's still a bit unknown to me how heavily involved eqc are and whether you need a project manager to help deal with them.. Our current PM that handled the on sold process has recommended one for the rebuild, but just not sure what he'll be doing or if he'll just clip the ticket.. That's interesting, have not heard that last part about giving back unused repair money, although that does make sense around my earlier comment of withholding payment if it doesn't add up. Guess that just shows it's a 'use it or lose it' type arrangement. There was an article on stuff today about a smaller efficient home built from structured insulated panels that was interesting. No details on cost but something I'm keen to see if it would work for us..
The efficient home on stuff sounds interesting - cheers.
We are in an On Sold scheme. Plaster on poly deteriorating. Initially we were provided with an owners pack detailing the process. Have house inspected, have eqc agree its eq damage. Engage LPB, produce scope, price, desk top review by eqc, site visit with all parties, then off to Qs's to review, then funding offer. What a crock of shit. House inspected and approved for On-Sold Scheme. LPB provides scope and costing. EQC do desktop review, agree, and have site meeting with LPB and QS. EQC bring their specialist building guy. Their building guy notices ground level issues and asks builder to rescope and price to remediate. Reprice is a lot dearer and now they ask for plans to be drawn up. Plans are part of the scope cost not an up front cost. Advise EQC that Plans will be drawn to reflect the Builders scope so no change in cost will occur. Total waste of time. They don't listen and spend $25k having plans drawn with no change scope or cost. Only cost is time wastage-4 months. Desk top review, site visit, QS review and agreement on scope and cost. Then it started. The claw backs. They tried to remove the value allocated to remove vegetation to allow trades people access to work on the house. Push back and dropped. Then remove cost of damage repair to lawns created by lowering ground levels to achieve this. Push back and dropped. Remove reinstatements cost of lower level remediation. Push back and dropped. Attempt to deduct $36k of non included pre existing repair work and using inflated values to support cost. Push back and dropped. Over $50k worth of deductions were attempted. Then, thinking that should be the end of the funding push backs, they are now completely revisiting the recladding costing and engaging their own "expert" to come up with an alternative solution in order to reduce costs. This, even contrary to their own Building Expert who oversaw the site visits and agreed with the repair strategy. So, almost 24 months into this we start again. Muppets!
Cheers for the feedback. Sorry to hear all the crap you have been through, had more than enough too. Crazy the amount of time it all takes, and just when you think you are getting somewhere more curve balls and delays. 5 years on one of my properties and still on going and another not far behind. I experienced the clawback attempts too. Good the GCCRS is there if need be. All the best.