Assessors sent to investigate Housing NZ properties

3:43 pm on 26 February 2011

Housing New Zealand is sending extra staff to Christchurch to assess damage to state houses.

Twenty-four property inspectors with four-wheel-drive vehicles will arrive in the city next week.

The agency says it has had a lot of calls from tenants reporting significant damage to state houses, mostly because of liquefaction.

It says about 4000 of the 6000 state houses in Christchurch were damaged by the earthquake in September and it fears the situation will be worse this time.