KEY POINTS:
Residents of three large apartment towers in Ellerslie settled their leaky building claim for $2.5 million - but are aghast to discover the blocks will probably cost double that to fix.
Inhabitants of the 76-unit Ellerslie Court iron-gated community on Harrison Rd won a $2.5 million settlement two years ago from parties involved in building and approving the apartments. In 2005, the High Court at Auckland had ordered them to mediate and reach that settlement.
They have since found they settled far too cheaply. The true cost of repairs will be far more than the payout they got and may be more than $6 million.
Cladding has to be stripped from the blocks and new timber installed in walls. Some units under repair have to be vacated and the work will take another 18 months
Apartment owner Robin Bailey said people found out that repairs were likely to cost double what they had received only once remediation work started - well after the settlement, he said.
"We won't even know the true cost until all the work is finished, which we hope will be by the end of next year," he said.
Anne McQuinn, a resident and member of the owners' committee, said the situation had been so stressful that worry from home and work issues had resulted in her suffering hair loss.
"It's been horrendous. It's been so awful and being on the owners' committee, you feel a strong sense of responsibility for getting the best deal that you can. If we leave this, it literally falls down," she said.
Dora Wilden-Green, who has owned a unit since 1999, fears steep levies from her body corporate to pay for the repairs.
She has already paid $21,600 but said she could face a levy of $79,200 in total.
"Even if I could find this sort of money, I would be over-capitalising the unit," she said, adding that she felt powerless to escape from the situation. "Owners who have objected in the past have been cried down, so we do not have a say."
Owners were never told the exact figure of the settlement, she said, and had hurriedly reached that settlement fearing the blocks' developer, China's Minland Metals, would go into liquidation.
She lives in Dunedin but bought the unit as an investment and a place to stay when visiting family in Auckland.
"Problems with the cladding became apparent several years ago and we were well within the five-year building warranty period to make a claim," she said.
"I have been lucky so far to have a tenant who pays the rent and puts up with the ugly sight of the other two towers being sheathed with tarpaulins. The people have lived like rats under these for months, Tower C especially," she said.
Dora Wilden-Green is now seeking help from John Gray of the Leaky Homes Action Group and said she identified with Takapuna apartment owner Pauline Hough who featured on these pages at the end of May, telling of her plight.
"Your article on Pauline Hough was heart-rending. I could identify with her plight.
The blocks are on Harrison Rd near the St John Ambulance.
CAUGHT SHORT
$2.5 million:
What apartment owners settled for
$6 million plus:
What it could cost to fix the mess
