Anger over derelict house

Allister Laing with the neighbouring derelict house in the background. PHOTO/STEPHEN PARKER

A property owner has been given six months to demolish a dangerous Rotorua house.

But the decision has angered a neighbouring property owner who says it should have been done years ago.

Rotorua builder Allister Laing said he had battled Rotorua Lakes Council for almost two years to have the burnt-out empty property behind his rental house demolished due to safety concerns. But the council says it has been hamstrung by the law and has done everything it could without infringing on the owner's property rights.

The Rotorua Daily Post has chosen not to name the street the house is on.

Residents spoken to by the Rotorua Daily Post said the house attracted what in their opinion were undesirable people.

"It's senseless, they took the hand basins, toilet, left the water running," said a neighbour, who did not want to be named. "Kids are smashing the windows out, they come here and party, they dump their rubbish here."

A council building inspector was called to the site this week and deemed the property dangerous. The council has since contacted the landlord asking them to make the house safe and secure and both parties have agreed to have it demolished within six months.

Mr Laing said he was not interested in council bureaucracy and wanted action now.

"It's taken them two years and now they have given them another six months to get rid of it."

No, I'm not happy. I pay my rates and think I deserve some action. I had people in here and they moved out because of the problems.

Allister Laing

" I want my tenant to stay here. My property is in excellent condition and this brings the whole street down."

Council compliance solutions manager Neven Hill said the building had slowly degraded over the years and only recently due to its state could the council do anything about it.

"The building inspector identified the dwelling as a dangerous building as defined in the Building Act 2004.

"We phoned the owner to discuss his intentions for the property. He said the building would be removed within six months. He also agreed that all doors and windows would be boarded up to prevent unauthorised entry and that the boardings would be replaced if removed by others.

"We issued him a Notice to Fix, under section 164 of the Act. The notice confirms actions and timings agreed and will also detail consequences for him if he does not comply with them."

If a property owner fails to comply the council usually issues an Infringement Notice for $1000, and then start the Notice to Fix process again. The fines for a prosecution are a maximum of $200,000 and $20,000 per day thereafter.

Mayor Steve Chadwick said she had petitioned Local Government New Zealand to get more power for councils to deal with derelict properties.

"It is an absolute frustration for council that current legislation ties our hands around the action we can take on derelict homes like these."

A building is classed 'dangerous' if:
In the ordinary course of events (excluding an earthquake), the building is likely to cause:
- injury or death to anyone in it or on other property; or damage to other property; or
- in the event of fire, injury or death to anyone in the building or on other property is likely.