KEY POINTS:
Leaky building victims in multi-unit residential complexes could get quicker justice under a proposed law change to go before the Cabinet today.
Building Minister Shane Jones wants to modernise body corporate laws which govern housing estates and apartment blocks.
Victims were often frustrated in the repair process because a few owners could oppose them and time was not on the side of those in rotting homes, he said.
"While the body corporate tries to sort out the argument, the building continues to deteriorate and unit owners have to live every day in a leaky home."
His proposed Unit Titles Bill is an overhaul of the laws passed 30 years ago to govern multiple ownership, but it is yet to have its first reading.
Mr Jones said the Unit Titles Act 1972 was out of touch with modern developments and the new law would scrap the need for unanimous body corporate decisions.
Instead, decisions would be based on 75 per cent agreement by voters at a body corporate meeting.
The new law will also aim to scrap "holdouts", meaning those who do not vote will not be able to stop the process.
The current rules have led to bitter rows and sometimes legal action among leaky home owners.
At the Rossmay Tce apartment block in Kingsland, the unit of a woman who refused to pay for repairs was sold against her will.
Bodies corporate would be required to establish long-term maintenance plans to protect the development's value, enabling unit owners to pay a regular amount for maintenance.
Body corporate disputes would be handled through mediation or adjudication in the Tenancy Tribunal rather than solely through the courts, which would make resolution faster and cheaper.
Disclosure requirements would be introduced for buyers, unit owners and the body corporate, so they can make informed choices.
Mr Jones said: "Developers will be required to provide information on the construction, systems and infrastructure of buildings to the body corporate.
"A purchaser will be entitled to a list of information they can view on request such as body corporate rules, audited accounts and maintenance plans."
