Stressed residents suing council over subsiding homes

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A group of Rotorua residents say they are being forced to sue their council after the Department of Building and Housing took the rare step of revoking building consents and code compliance certificates for the cracked and subsiding homes they poured their savings into.

John and Eileen Grundy, Grant Collins and Shirley Vos and Richard and Katy Davis, who bought their homes in Western Rd at the $7 million Oakland Estate near Ngongotaha four years ago, have since been battling to get compensation after sodden, unstable ground conditions slowly began rupturing their houses. Mrs Davis said stress over the ordeal led to her overnight stay in hospital due to pregnancy complications, while earlier, her 2-year-old daughter broke her front tooth after tripping over broken tiling.

Her husband had taken up smoking again, and the couple were afraid to bring their baby home to a bedroom where the worst cracks in the house had appeared.

Mr Collins and Ms Vos cannot say how much longer their house will remain insured for and have been forced to visit their GP several times over stress-related conditions.

Mr Grundy, who invested in his house after arriving from Britain with his wife, said the strain had left him in hospital for a week and his wife with high blood pressure and poor health.

All of the residents say they knew nothing about the poor land quality when they moved in - but the council did know when it issued consents for the three houses in 2007, they claim.

They say they are unable to sell their homes as they are now of no value, and are unable to plan for their future.

The land was originally developed by former Rotorua district councillor Geoff Kenny into what is now an 80-lot subdivision.

The developer's consultants stated in their scheme plan that "overall the site is stable, able to be drained and suitable in parts for building development". The plan submitted that the council approve the development on the grounds that "no land subject to instability" was to be included in it.

In February 2008, the council received a report from the owner of a nearby section raising potential foundation issues, which was forwarded to the developer's consultants, noting it could need reassurance as to whether it was an "isolated issue".

But in March, April and May that year, the council issued code compliance certificates for the three properties. The same year, it stopped issuing consents for the first two stages of the subdivision, and approval for building the third stage was suspended soon after.

The Grundy and Davis families had already moved in in 2007, and Mr Collins said he shifted in the following year and was later alerted to the problems.

"Our code of compliance stated that our house would have an expected life of 50 years plus, but it failed miserably in just three years," he said.

Rotorua's planning services manager, Darrell Holder, said the council's position would be addressed once the implications of the determination had been assessed and it had received legal advice.

Mr Collins appealed to members of the public who could provide advice/support to phone him on 027-566-3255 or email grant.collins@xtra.co.nz.