There is no ‘right time’ and the time taken to rebuild depends on individual circumstances. Some Black Saturday (Victoria 2009) households have rebuilt homes over a decade later, while some households impacted by more recent bushfires have new homes already. A rebuild takes time, as people are dealing with loss and trying to resolve insurance claims and basic issues of shelter, financial security and trying to return to some level of routine.
Early stages on the construction of Janet and Scott McLean’s house after Black Saturday, where they rebuilt their home on the existing slab.
There is no ‘right time’ and the time taken to rebuild depends on individual circumstances. Some Black Saturday (Victoria 2009) households have rebuilt homes over a decade later, while some households impacted by more recent bushfires have new homes already. A rebuild takes time, as people are dealing with loss and trying to resolve insurance claims and basic issues of shelter, financial security and trying to return to some level of routine.
“Don’t think about your house for a year until you push through the grief and you’ve had a year of getting your life back into some sort of order.
“The regulations are very well-meaning, a lot of thought and conscious decisions have gone into it. But it is quite overwhelming and it does tend to change.”
Architect Dr Douglas Brown has advised households rebuilding homes after past disasters, and notes that safety regulations can seem overwhelming, especially to a homeowner dealing with the loss of a home.
'Passive' home more expensive to build but cheaper to run, achieves highest bushfire risk rating
