Safety delays hit Auckland housing project

An artist's impression of the Springpark affordable housing development in Mt Wellington.

Fire safety issues which held up first homes may affect other projects.

Fire safety issues have stopped construction on the first 20 terraced homes at Auckland's biggest affordable housing project, and may affect similar city projects.

Tony Gapes, the developer for Springpark in Mt Wellington, said there had been fire consenting issues which he believed had been resolved after nearly four months.

"The houses that are half-built were begun under a consent that still required the fire engineer's sign off and this has proved to be a lot more complicated," Gapes said.

After involving three fire engineers and a council peer reviewer, the project received consent last Thursday for two house types and had two more house types to go.

"I believe the same issue has affected several terrace house developments around Auckland," Gapes said.

The Springpark development, on a 10.5ha site, will have 420 terraced houses and apartments, many of which sold off the plans in 2013 for between $320,000 and $550,000.

Real estate consultants Colliers International predicted the first homes would be finished by the end of 2014.

More than two years after the first sales, the first two blocks of terraced houses lie empty, with building paper peeling away from the steel frames and graffiti appearing on the roof of one block when the Herald visited.

One first-home buyer, who paid a 10 per cent deposit for a terraced house, said he had been kept in the loop by the developer about the delays and was told construction would resume soon.

Last month, the Herald reported widespread breaches of fire safety regulations were being discovered during weather-tightness repairs on multi-storey apartments.

The discovery of fire safety faults has added months and millions of dollars for owners. It has arisen from a rash of shortcuts and a compliance system unfit for purpose.

Council building control manager Ian McCormick said the Springpark developer appears to have engaged fire engineers to satisfy council that what they are doing complies.

"I understand that the peer reviewer was satisfied that the original designs still provide the required level of protection and they were subsequently approved.

"It is not uncommon for us to require a peer reviewer for fire-related designs," McCormick said.

In terms of similar issues with other developments, fire rating to protect adjacent buildings and implications of proximity to boundaries with different types of land designations was a feature of many developments, McCormick said.

Gapes, of Redwood Group, has sold stages two and three to Happyland Development, owned by Auckland and Hong Kong-based Chinese investors.

Neighbours have cited concerns about traffic, pollution, noise, dust and even rats since the dismantling of glasshouses on the former plant nursery site.

Greg and Yola Rabe, whose home overlooks the development site, said they had endured two years of vibration and dust and had to battle council to address their concerns.

"This development is not a shining star, it's a pig's ear," Yola Rabe said.