Once again the vulnerable elderly are coping a raw deal in Retirement Homes in Christchurch that were affected by the Canterbury earthquake .
The families of displaced elderly residents of Red Zone retirement villages in Christchurch want Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee to explain why such vulnerable people are not being given the same financial help as homeowners when a sharp spike in death rates seems to show the stress is killing them.
Unlike those who own homes in the Red Zone, the roughly 200 elderly residents of four condemned retirement villages have been told the "licences to occupy" their village units do not qualify them for the Crown's scheme to buy homes, which allows owners caught in the Red Zone to rehouse themselves elsewhere.
Many of the elderly are in a desperate situation, as the village owners are only contractually obliged to pay them back the original capital they paid to buy their licences to occupy, minus "deferred management" fees of 20 to 30 per cent. The payout is less than the they need to buy a unit in another village, and massively less for those who bought into villages 10 or more years ago
Salt is being rubbed into the wounds from the fact that the retirement villages are covered by the Crown buyback scheme, but any money goes to the village owners, who are under no obligation to pay residents more than their reduced capital sum. The government has so far resisted pleas for help from the families of the displaced.
