Leaky home victims form group to spread costs

By ANNE GIBSON

Hundreds of leaky building homeowners have banded together to take legal action to get money to fix their rotting homes and the Government is firmly in their sights.

Claims for at least $10 million of damages on 600 homes are just the tip of the iceberg, says a lawyer acting for the biggest group of victims of rotting homes.

Paul Grimshaw, of the Auckland firm Cairns Slane, said yesterday that his clients had banded together to try to get more victims to join the group and spread the legal costs.

Mr Grimshaw said the rotting homes victims' group had been formed with the hope of taking legal action this year and getting the money back next year to repair homes.

Damages would be sought in High Court action to cover all legal bills so the victims would not be out of pocket.

Mr Grimshaw said he expected thousands of homeowners to join the group.

Members have already filed claims for $10 million of repairs on homes mainly in Auckland. The claims average between $300,000 and $500,000.

"Let's face it - since 1996 when the rules were relaxed, thousands of houses have been built in New Zealand, so I'd expect lots of people to join," Mr Grimshaw said.

"The group approach has great benefits for owners, who otherwise would face possibly crippling legal and other fees involved in taking individual action.

"We are taking this initiative as we are already involved with a number of claims for owners."

Mr Grimshaw is acting for residents at the 85-unit Greenwich Park site in Grafton, who discovered the walls of their building were rotting four months after they began moving into their $250,000 homes in December 2000.

The new group's formation was given added impetus with revelations this week that the Government-appointed Building Industry Authority had known about the crisis for months.

"Now the BIA are firmly in our sights," Mr Grimshaw said, "as well as contractors, developers, the directors of property development companies, cladding manufacturers and the Building Research Association."

Cairns Slane has joined Christchurch law firm Lane Neave to offer combined legal services for clients throughout the country.

An alliance with building inspection services would help the new group, he said.

Mr Grimshaw is pleading for rotting-home victims not to call him directly but to register their details on the freecall number 0800 002-525.

This would not necessarily lead to callers joining the group.

"It could just mean we put them in touch with the right people, but it could mean they join the group.

"If it's a small problem, we could direct them to the Small Claims Tribunal, or perhaps to arbitration with a builder. It does not necessarily mean that they will join us outright."

The group also hopes to lobby for law changes.

"We may be involved in suggesting changes that will prevent a repetition of the current situation," Mr Grimshaw said.

"One innovation that appears likely to emerge is the introduction of latent defects insurance, which is new to this country but is available overseas."

This insurance provides protection to building owners, occupiers and others against damage or the threat of collapse because of a defect in the structure of the building.

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Further reading
Feature: Leaky buildings

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