Leaky homes owners urged to get second opinion

Homeowners' representatives are warning leaky home owners to get a second opinion before taking up the Government's financial assistance package.

From today, qualifying homeowners can claim a 25% contribution from the Government and may then receive 25% from their local council.

But the Homeowners and Buyers' Association is concerned some assessments of leaky homes are not of a high enough standard.

Leaky home owner Bruce Kenny said he was going to take up the Government offer, but then decided it was not worth it.

"They sent round an inspector, checked the house. When I showed that to a person who knows a lot about the business, he said that report is totally inadequate, you need to further investigate the property," he told ONE News.

The initial assessor recommended targeted repairs costing around $25,000.

But an independent report found much more work was needed, including full re-cladding, at more than 12 times the cost. 

"It would've been a patch job at best. It would not have gone the distance and we would be left with further work," Kenny said.

The Department of Building and Housing says it is only responsible for so much.

"The financial assistance package is designed to get leaky homes fixed faster. If there are issues with the building which are not related to the leaky problem, then home owners need to resolve those themselves," Jeff Montgomery from the Department of Building said.

"If those issues are a result of the leaks, the best thing is they can call the Department of Building and Housing and discuss it with us."

The Homeowners and Buyers Association says a lot of people will be left choosing whether to pay the difference for a higher standard of repair, or like Kenny, forego the assistance package and fight it out in court.

It is urging anyone applying for the Government package to seek a second opinion on their assessment.

"Those people that think about that and do a robust repair are going to see the value of their homes restored, but some of the homes that have been repaired to the minimum standard are going to fail again, and people are going to go through this cycle again," said chief executive of the Homeowners and Buyers Association Roger Levie.

Levie said the sorts of figures that the assessors are coming up with are well below the real cost of repair.

"So 50% and 25% actually is a lot less than that when you look at the real repair cost."

Thousands to miss out

Levie told TV ONE's Breakfast only a small number of people will benefit from the package and some will miss out completely.

"It's a contribution they couldn't get before, but it's certainly not an answer to this huge problem," Levie said this morning.

Homeowners will need to demonstrate they can pay the remaining 50% of the repair cost themselves. And with the claim having to be lodged within 10 years of the home being built,  just 23,500 of the estimated 42,000 leaky homes with be eligible for the payout.

Levie said about half the homes the association thinks have problems are already outside the 10-year period, just from looking at building consent records.

"And then there's a lot of people who are going to be much better off actually to pursue legal proceedings, say against the council or other parties. So it's going to be a small number of people."

He said with the package not available to people who can't come up with their share of the repair cost, those in the worst situation can't get access to help.

John Gray, who represents affected homeowners, told ONE News that while the package allows some to move on with their lives, it won't be enough for others.

"It is not going to be good for all, but it is going to provide an out for some. But probably not those most in need unfortunately," he said.

Fifty percent assistance 'the minimum'

Those who make claims under the package waive the right to sue the Government or relevant council.

However, a lawyer representing many leaky homeowners, Tim Rainey, says the package means they will now have the ability to try for money from other parties like builders and architects.

Rainey told TVNZ News at 8 he thinks leaky homeowners can get more than half their repair costs from government and councils.

"Fifty percent now becomes basically the floor minimum that people can expect out of the situation. And with proper legal representation, good solid expert advice and assistance, people, I think, can expect realistically get a lot more than that," he said.
 
The government is expected to spend around $1 billion on the package.