Repairs to Christchurch's earthquake-damaged homes have passed the billion-dollar mark with about 31,000 jobs completed, the Government says.
Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee says the work is ramping up and will be at full capacity for the next 18 months.
"Billing fluctuated between $55 million and $66m a month between July and November," he said on Monday.
"December saw $72m worth of repair work done for a cumulative total since the scheme began of $1.003b."
In addition, more than 47,000 emergency repairs have been completed and 18,000 heating units installed.
"We're more than a third of the way through the homes that sustained up to $100,000 damage," Mr Brownlee said.
"A large number of repairs to date have been for less than $50,000 damage and with the scheme at full capacity we'll now see a concerted attack on the over $50,000 work."
The Earthquake Commission has now paid out $4.16b for all Canterbury earthquake-related claims including $3.8b for buildings, $380m for contents and $25.9m for land.
NZN