Settlement stops the rot

A leaky Mission Bay mansion is to be bulldozed and an architecturally designed home built, following an enormous out-of-court settlement.

The Herald on Sunday understands hundreds of thousands of dollars are involved in a settlement over the Codrington Cres address, just a few blocks back from Tamaki Drive in the swanky Auckland seaside suburb.

The two-storey house features nouveau art deco bay windows looking out over carefully manicured hedges and topiary, adjoining a double garage. Behind the garage is a large outdoor dining area and lawn.

But on the front of the garage, in particular, green mould can be seen running down the outside walls. Panels have been cut from the cladding of the house itself to inspect for rot.

Up to nine lawyers were involved in the court settlement, representing about a dozen different parties, including Auckland City Council, the architect and contractors.

According to Quotable Value, the property has a capital valuation of $1.77 million as of July last year.

When the Herald on Sunday approached the owner for comment, he said he was unable to talk about the settlement other than to say it had been resolved.

He confirmed his home was leaky and said it "will be bowled soon". He was glad the ordeal was over, but had only got a "fraction" of what it would take to rebuild another home. He was just in a fortunate position that he could "move on" and rebuild.

He said some parties had behaved well during the proceedings, but others had allegedly been difficult and unfair. But he did not want to get into a blame game and preferred to put the matter behind him.

"I feel sad for all those Kiwis who can't resolve their cases," he said.

The man's lawyer, Gareth Lewis from Grimshaw & Co, did not reply to a request for comment.

It is understood proceedings began in the High Court at Auckland in 2007 over substantial work done on the property in 1998, but the case was withdrawn in recent months after a confidential agreement was reached.

The Herald on Sunday contacted a number of the parties listed in the original proceedings.

The paper approached Lawrence Sumich, of Sumich Architects, for comment twice and he twice hung up.

The business is renowned for having a string of high-profile clients, including having done work on the $30m Auckland Orakei mansion owned by Hanover Finance boss Mark Hotchin.

Builder Keith Hunter said the Mission Bay leaky home ordeal had "been a very traumatic part of my life", but said he was not financially at fault in any major way. He said he had a very good reputation.

Contractor Michael May said it was "an extremely messy situation" even though he was only a very minor party. He said there were issues around the age of the existing home that had been renovated and who was to blame.

He blamed the Government ultimately for "allowing people to operate in a system that was flawed".

Landscaper Ron Dykman said he did not pay out anything, but he had signed a confidentiality agreement and could not comment further on the issue.

General Manukau Enterprises part-owner Gerry Mekkelholt said his insurer had taken over the matter so he was unsure how it had been resolved, but commented that "it really had nothing to do with us".

An Auckland City Council spokesman said the council had a policy of not commenting on anything that might be a confidential court settlement. This was the case for the majority of leaky homes cases, he said, adding "we can't comment on what may or may not have happened at that address".

The Herald reported last month that Auckland City Council had been dealing with $240 million in leaky homes claims and that the council had already paid out $50.9m in 300 leaky building cases.