A Bexley woman was the last red-zone resident to accept the Government's first buyout offer for homes in some of Christchurch's most badly damaged suburbs.

The first buyout deadline for residential red-zone properties may have been on Sunday but Jan Sparrow, 69, accepted her offer yesterday.

She was the last person to agree to the buyout offers to 2970 affected residents in Bexley, Burwood and Brooklands.

Sparrow had said on Friday she did not have enough information to decide on the offer after finding out from her insurer only on Monday last week that her house was a repair job.

"Up until then I was told it was over the cap and a rebuild. I didn't have anything in writing though," she said.

But yesterday, Sparrow was able to make her decision after receiving information from the Earthquake Commission.

Hours later, she decided to accept option 2, in which the Government pay the most recent rating valuation for the land, while insurance and EQC settle on the damage of the house.

Sparrow said it was a "huge relief" to have made a decision.

"We can move on. It gives me some options now," she said.

Sparrow said she went with option 2 as it meant she would get a "little bit more than the government value. Having a small two-bedroom unit with a small piece of land, it wasn't a lot of money".

Sparrow said she would likely buy an existing home as she would not have enough to buy a section and build.

"The biggest thing was not having enough money to afford another property like we've had for the last 27 years."

- © Fairfax NZ News

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