CEO Northern Rivers Reconstruction Corporation David Witherdin revealed the first house buyback offers will be sent out to homeowners this week as the NRRC looks to scale up its output in the coming weeks and months for its Resilience Homes Program.

In Part 2, we discuss the potential need for more money and the latest on the Resilient Land Program.

You now have 7000 registrations for the Resilience Homes Program, initially, you mentioned your calculations were on 6000. This was loosely based on 2000 for buybacks, 2000 for house raisings and 2000 for retro fittings, does this mean you will need more than the $700 million allocated by the state and federal governments?

"We were very clear that not everybody that was impacted by the flood, in one way or another, was going to be eligible for our programme. This was a really big event and eligibility depended on the level of hazard. The ones that will get a no are the ones at the very lowest risk and, we anticipate, will have access to affordable insurance as well."

"In terms of the programme, that $700 million takes us through until the middle of next year. We're prioritising how we roll that out. As we get to the end of this calendar year, that's when we look at our tracking against some of the under pining assumptions for the program and then we can reset. What business case is there for what needs to be done beyond June 2024?"

"Look at how quickly the various streams are rolling out. In many ways, the voluntary purchase is probably the easier aspect of it but what you've got to do is get pathways for people to get back into the housing market and affordable pathways to do that. But, you know where we will be challenged, and this happened in Queensland, is in market capacity constraints around both house raising and retrofitting."

"We know the challenges of getting trades, accommodating trades and most importantly, ensuring good quality work that's delivered in a value-for-money way. That's why we are working through a really focused procurement approach where we can make it easy for homeowners in terms of delivering works there."

Will the NRRC be releasing a map that indicates where the different zones are?

"Right from that very first consultation session we had, there's been a request for that. At that point in time, the best thing we had were just levels, inundation levels, and all of that information is already publicly available through council websites, through the department of planning and so on. I was, I guess, at pains to say that our assessment of risk or that sort of hazard profile of individual properties is far more sophisticated than that."

"So, it wasn't just on flood depth. It was about flood velocity, we wanted to understand the structural condition of properties, we wanted to understand whether people would be stranded, whether there were escape routes, we needed to understand the profile of the individual homeowners and so on. So now, in the background since that time, there's been a whole lot of work done to prepare what is a really sophisticated tool in terms of that maping that will then present that hazard profile and then that will be a really close proxy for eligibility. I think the other thing to be clear is there are a lot of gaps in that information."

"We've got a high level of detailed information. Those maps are going through the final quality assurance process, and we then expect to have that information to be publicly available later this month.

"I know there's been a lot of sentiment in the community that they're sitting on the maps and not releasing them but that just hasn't been true at all. We weren't in that position to have that level of granular and accurate detail but we are now."

"Interesting to understand, in the Queensland programme, they don't have that level of information publicly available and they don't have a sophisticated level of assessment as what we've got."

What about Resilient Lands, what's the latest there?

"Expressions of interest closed on the 1st of February with 326 responses across the seven LGAs. We were certainly delighted with what has come back there as well in conjunction with that working with individual councils and state government agencies looking for opportunities across the public estate as well. All of that is under detailed review, then we'll have an independent assessment by an expert independent panel we've put together to review those recommendations."

"We then anticipate in March that we are back out there with community talking about what our service priorities sites are. We're very confident that there will be sufficient supply as suitable sites in the right locations but then the challenges around bringing them online quickly and around affordability. We've absolutely got to provide pathways for people to get back into that market at an affordable price point."

So, you are confident that you can get people back into homes around a similar budget pre-flood?

"That's a real challenge and, you know, the housing market in the Northern Rivers was under immense pressure in terms of cost prior to the flood. It's been compounded significantly by the floods and then with the growth of interest rates since. So, I think there are multiple challenges."

"We've certainly looked at all of the levers that government can sort of pull to really drive the best outcomes, that in combination with some of the sites. I am quietly confident that there are some real opportunities there."

Landswaps, where do we sit now?

"I think the position is absolutely the same around landswaps, we haven't changed at all. But what we do want to ensure is that people have got the opportunity to actually move their home if it is in a suitable condition. Where we can create a pathway to do that, we want to do that because every home you can keep in the housing stocks is one you don't have to build. So, I think in many cases it will certainly be the least cost outcome, but preserves the character in the area as well."

How important are local councils and councillors now? The legislation is there for the NRRC to do what they need to to make these programs work.

"Look, I think what's really important is that we have that collaborative approach in what we're doing with councils. There are different pathways that can be taken in the approval sense, but what we want to do is ensure that what we're taking forward that most of the community is behind it. And similarly with councillors because they are options that stack up, they do present as the best options."

"I think as a community, everyone's got to come together and back things in if we want to move quickly around things. More of what we were doing pre-flood is not going to cut it because it hadn't delivered the outcomes that were needed in the area. So, by doing things differently, you would get a better outcome.

"The New South Wales Reconstruction Authority has got extensive powers, under legislation and that gives levers that can be activated if need be. But, I would be hopeful that we can move together in a collaborative way. We want a strong commitment right across community to build back better and in terms of the money that's on the table both in terms of resilient homes, resilient land and everything that's happening in an infrastructure space, it's a real opportunity for the community to build back better. So, you know, I think the onus is on all of us to be part of the solution and not part of the problem."