Landslip house declared off limits

The council said the cliff and house were unlikely to last. Picture / Dean Purcell

The $1 million house teetering on the edge of a landslip at Little Shoal Bay on Auckland's North Shore could slip into the harbour at any time.

The tenants of the house, which is owned by British-based homeowners, were able to take some possessions but otherwise the house has been declared unsafe.

A section of the 40-metre high cliff, which can be seen from the Auckland Harbour Bridge, disappeared last night, taking all the back yard and leaving the house in danger of collapsing into the sea.

The cliff was declared unstable and the house uninhabitable today.

North Shore City Council told the tenants they could recover their goods but they could no longer live in the property.

A post holding up the deck on the southern side of the house also disappeared leaving a sewer line exposed.

The house and a second neighbouring house on Awanui Street were both evacuated last night when the cliff slipped down.

The residents of the second house were told Earthquake Commission (EQC) engineers today that it was safe to return, although a garage may not survive.

Council spokesman Paul O'Brien said EQC was looking at the possibility a stormwater drain which appeared to be discharging stormwater over the cliff, may have contributed to the landslip and could be illegal.

He said the cliff and the house was unlikely to last.

"The answer to the question here is not if it is going to go down, it is when."

He said any move to stabilise the cliff would be for the EQC, the owner and the insurers to discuss but it would be a very expensive job.

Yesterday the council installed a temporary sewer line over a new route away from the cliff face to service about six houses at the bottom of Awanui Street.

Blair Harkness from North Shore City Council said the EQC would probably make the final decision on what would happen to the house.

"The outlook is not good...," Mr Harkness said.

- NZPA