Apartment owners fight fee hikes

Resort-style living in Parnell is all a bit of a mirage as owners fight big fee rises. Photo / Herald on Sunday

Owners of 317 apartments and townhouses on Maori leasehold land in Auckland are this week fighting huge fee hikes.

Experts representing owners of 112 townhouses in a network of three streets near the waterfront, the 125-unit Mirage apartments and more than 80 units in nearby Parnell Terraces are presenting evidence at an arbitration hearing in Auckland before Robert Fisher QC, as are experts for Ngati Whatua O Orakei Maori Trust Board.

At issue is how much the land under the residences is worth and what the owners are liable for.

Ngati Whatua sought 6 per cent of the value of the highest, best use of vacant sites without building improvements.

Some townhouse owners said they had been asked for $600 a month or $7200 a year but others said the fees were almost $10,000 a year.

If the $10,000 a year figure is applied across all 317 properties, ground rent could be an annual $3 million.

The 112 townhouses are in Cotesmore Way, Sudbury Tce and Dovedale Place.

Various bodies corporate in the properties joined together to deal with Ngati Whatua which had suspended ground rent charges for 15 years until sending out fee schedules last year.

Many of the 112 townhouses in the three streets are rented for $500 to $600 a week and some landlords have a number of units, drawn to the area for its proximity to the CBD and tertiary institutes. Dovedale has 39 townhouses, Sudbury 32 and Cotesmore 41.

Roy Younge, co-owner of the business Birthcare, has a townhouse in Dovedale Place and another in Sudbury Tce.

Weathertightness issues had plagued the places since Melview Development's Nigel McKenna built there earlier last decade, he said.

"The big problem is all the properties are leaky and they haven't been fixed so that's the biggest issue to sort out. It's not a quick or easy process. There's no litigation because everyone has fallen over," Younge said referring to McKenna's bankruptcy and the prospect of owners applying for the new financial assistance package whereby the Government would pay for 25 per cent of repairs.

But Younge hopes the leasehold issue will be resolved soon.

Earl Bunting, of Cotesmore Way, told the Local Government and Environment Committee his leaky place was part of a complex of 41 units.

"We have had plans prepared for repairs to the complex and these plans have gained building consent. We are progressing a Section 48 application under the Unit Titles Act to provide the legal framework for repairs to commence and have been awaiting detail on the Financial Assistance Package," he told the committee.

Owners commissioned valuation expertise from Colliers International and dispute resolution expert and Institute of Valuers' past president Iain Gribble of Gribble Churton Taylor valuers.

BIG FIGHT
One Dovedale Place owner's dilemma:
* Ngati Whatua wants $9890 ground rent annually.
* Valuers for owner propose annual $5730.
* Arbitration to strike the final annual fee.