Auckland Council investigating 'swamp' underneath Papakura home

Flooding underneath a Papakura rental home is being investigated by the Auckland Council after a complaint was lodged yesterday morning.

Dawn Robbie lives at the cold and damp "undrained swamp" of a home with her partner and two young daughters, aged 3 and 10 months.

Robbie pays $520 a week for the three-bedroom home, her daughters are constantly sick and the family turns on the oven and a gas heater to warm the house.

The basement of the property is completely flooded and is littered with bits of underfloor insulation and rubbish.

Robbie told the Herald her landlord refuses to fix drainage issues at the property after insisting they would be fixed when they moved in last January.

Dawn Robbie with her 10-month-old daughter at their house in Papakura, which they say is making them sick. Photo / NZ Herald

Robbie said that never happened, and every time it rained water poured under the house.

When the landlord visited the property earlier this year he didn't properly fix the problem, she said.

"The kids have been getting sick every couple of months, I've been getting sick too.

"As tenants, we are doing our utmost. We pay rent and look after the property, we don't expect to have to live in a cold, damp house that is making us sick."

Manurewa-Papakura Ward councillor Daniel Newman said he visited Robbie's home to assess the situation and what he found disgusted him.

Newman told the Herald he believed an attempt had been made to reroute stormwater into wastewater drains.

"The property is an undrained swamp, unhealthy ... mosquito infested, prone to flooding and unworthy of the $520 weekly rent.

"Dawn, [partner] Cameron and their baby daughters deserve better."

Underneath this Papakura house is water that makes the home above it damp and cold. Photo / supplied

The Manurewa-Papakura Ward councillor notified the council, who told the Herald at this stage, it was too early to tell what actions the council would take.

Auckland Council's team manager of compliance response Max Wilde did not confirm whether stormwater was being transferred into the wastewater.

However, he said it was illegal to make cross connections between wastewater and stormwater pipes.

"They cause damage by overloading the wastewater system, which creates flooding, as well as environmental contamination," he said.

The Herald has contacted the Robbie's landlord's lawyer for further comment.