Shipley a leaky-home victim

Jenny Shipley. Photo / Kenny Rodger

Former Prime Minister Jenny Shipley is the latest victim of the leaky-homes scandal.

Multimillion-dollar repairs are almost finished to the apartment block where she lives in Newmarket, with windows ripped out and replaced in the eight-storey, 15-year-old, 27-unit Parkwood.

Residents of the block at the Morgan St/George St intersection are now taking their case to the courts, seeking between $3 million and $5 million compensation for major building defects.

In an odd twist, Mrs Shipley sits on the board of a business that owns the construction firm that built her block and is now being sued.

Parkwood's body corporate is taking a case against Mainzeal, owned by stock exchange-listed Richina Pacific, of which Mrs Shipley is a director.

Last year, the former Prime Minister told the Herald she loved living in Parkwood because she could indulge her two favourite pastimes of swimming and shopping.

Asked about a conflict of interest which involved her body corporate suing the company, Mrs Shipley indicated that "Chinese walls" would naturally prevent this, taking a step back from having a direct involvement with the litigation.

"As is normal for any professional independent director, I declare an interest and withdraw from any discussion if and when any perceived or actual conflict arises," she said.

The prominent tower has been re-clad, a job that has taken about a year and is due to finish next month.

PBS Contracting has scaffolding and safety mesh on the tower opposite the Auckland Domain but expects to finish work by the end of April.

Polystyrene cladding has been replaced with solid fibre cement sheets, which come with a guarantee.

For some years, water had been coming into the $500,000-plus units through the roof, joinery, at the corners of the tower and around external design features.

Mrs Shipley and husband Burton moved to the suburbs this year while their place was being fixed and PBS was this week working on level two of the block, expecting residents to return to that floor soon.

Richina has big Beijing and Shanghai interests but here it owns Mainzeal, one of the big-four building companies.

Mrs Shipley, Prime Minister in 1998 when untreated timber was approved, has forged big Chinese links, and also sits on the board of the massive China Construction Bank, which last year had more than 20,000 branches and 300,000 employees.

But in yet a further strange twist, it was a Chinese company - China Minmetals NZ/CEMC Properties - which in 1994 developed Parkwood.

That developer, the builder, ADC Architects and Auckland City are all named in documents prepared for the High Court case.

James Carmichael, head of the owners' committee at Parkwood, said the leaky building haunted many people. "It's an absolutely horrendous, frightening problem which has broken up so many marriages."

Parkwood had not been improved but was now simply "fit for purpose", Mr Carmichael said.

Minmetals was also the developer of a big leaker at Ellerslie Court, which has been fixed but where angry owners sought $7 million.

The Chinese business came to New Zealand in 1989 intending to buy NZ Steel, but when that deal failed it turned to property investment.

Minmetals also built the Skypark apartments next door to Parkwood.

HANDY GUIDE FOR OWNERS

Leaky-building specialist Prendos will next month issue a free weathertightness consumer guide.

Greg O'Sullivan of Prendos said the 24-page booklet would be widely distributed and aimed to tell people about the major issues and risks. The guide gives the background to the problem, answers common questions, shows which houses are most at risk and what parts to check out.

Buying a house, how to deal with the state's Weathertight Homes Resolution Service, the court process and risks of litigation are covered.

Mr O'Sullivan said he was prompted to consider providing the information after visiting a couple who owned a leaky home in the Bay of Plenty.

A state assessment put repairs at $150,000 so the couple had settled their dispute by accepting a payment of $150,000.

But Mr O'Sullivan said the house would cost well over $300,000 to repair and there was no redress for people against the state system's underestimate.

Despite people knowing about the leaky-home problem most of this decade, many remained unaware of how to avoid buying a place with issues or their options on how to deal with the problem, he said.

Body corporate secretaries, lawyers and councils will get the booklet. People can also email prendos@prendos.co.nz