Govt leaky-home offer brings inquiries

Claims and inquiries for leaky-home repairs have spiked since a subsidy package was offered last week, says Prime Minister John Key.

The Government increased its offer of contributions to leaky-homes victims seeking repair costs.

The package has local authorities and the Government each paying 25 per cent of the cost of repairs, with homeowners meeting the other 50 per cent.

If homeowners commit to the deal they cannot sue their council for ticking off faulty work, but they could continue to sue builders, architects, developers and others involved in the building of leaky homes.

The package would apply to leaky homes notified to the Department of Building and Housing within 10 years of being finished.

Mr Key said the department had received 15 claims since last week's announcement - the same number as there were for the whole of last month.

Inquiries from owners of large apartment blocks had also come in just days before their 10-year expiry date was up.

"That's great, because we are encouraging owners of leaky homes to lodge weather-tight claims as soon as possible so they can stop the clock on the 10-year liability limit."

Mr Key said 140 existing claimants had asked about the financial assistance package.

"The Government is waiting for responses from local authorities so we can finalise transitional arrangements for existing claimants and deal with operational detail," he said.

Councils were expected to consider the Government's proposal over the next week or so, but indications were that there was solid support for it, Mr Key said.

Auckland City Council said last week it was well prepared to fund its 25 per cent proposed share of fixing leaky homes with a contingency fund of about $200 million, and more to come over the next decade.

Officials have estimated the cost of fixing 42,000 homes throughout the country at $11.3 billion.

- NZPA