Binks

that it is sound and things work out well for you.

johnht

Like others say the value of the house is as it is now, surely you can't be expected to get it repaired only to be sold for a joint benefit. If you jointly owned some shares and they happened to be at a low point that would be their value, you wouldn't be expected to make another investment on the prospect of future profits.
Also the likely time scale to finalise a leaky home situation will (based on my mother in law's experiences) drag out by the time you have surveys, plans, permissions and the actual building work done - beyond the time you both want things to be finalised.
John.

Psychopandy

So sorry to hear about this news honey, what a way to start the new year

Whilst i hate to appear stupid (i know, why change the habit...) why did you get the report done? is there sign of the leaking within the house or externally? Your 'rather beautiful' home isnt that old - i wouldnt have thought it was built during the problem era - am i wrong again...?? .

Is the problem worse than we have been led to believe i.e. built in the 90's, no overhangs, shoddy builders etc.

I feel so bad for you honey, things seem to be going from bad to worse. Sending love and hugs

Psycho x

pricklykina

No advice to give really but so sorry to hear that terrible news. It's such a drawn out process and it's hard to know who to trust.
My friend has just used an innovative remedy that was a third of the cost that they were initially quoted (they were quoted 300k to remedy too)

I'll get details when she's back from holidays

P18PPS

I can't comment on the divorce bit, but have been through the leaky homes thing. We bought a gorgeous 5 year old home when we moved out 5+ years ago - we were aware of the 'leaky homes' and got the necessary reports - all of which said we had a cavity - so we thought we were fine. A few years later and some damp damage appeared - had repairs done - long story short no cavity, building inspector who said it did have a cavity is no longer trading (so nobody to share the blame). We had a number of options:

1. get the repairs done at a cost of circa $150k, then sell the house and probably be lucky to get the original price we bought at.
2. keep the house and rent it until such time that the house was inhabitable and then rebuild on the site.
3. sell at a loss, and move on.

The problem is that lenders realise the problem is huge now and won't give mortgages to leaky homes (wish they'd been so strict 5 years ago!), so you are left with cash buyers (normally builders) who will buy, re-clad at trade cost and then re-sell... and they know that there are many people in this situation.

We sold at a loss - in fact the selling price didn't even cover our mortgage, so our precious little savings had to pay the shortfall to the mortgage company. This was a year ago. We are saving like mad in the hope that another 12 months or so we may have sufficient for a 10% deposit on a small house.

It was sickening going through all this, and during the process we were in danger of sticking our heads in the sand and trying to find a way out that didn't mean we lost 15 years of equity in property - but there was none. My advice get out as quick as you can, sell up and move on - especially if you have other turning points in life to consider too... the last thing you need is some drawn out stressful weight hanging around your neck.

Good luck.

BEVS

I am so sorry to read this P18PPS. It must have been so tough to watch 15yr hard graft go down the plughole.. Fair play to you both for coming out the other end . for the restart.

kmthor

just watch who you get to do it.. when i was in Auckland there were companies offering to fix the leaky house... but guess what!!!!! they built them under a different name.

sorry to hear that and i truly feel for you after being in the construction game there...

km

fish.01

That's terrible. You probably already know about this proposed legislation where govt will pay some of the cost but just in case you don't: http://www.dbh.govt.nz/ws-proposed-financial-assistance

MnB

Just seen this on 'media' forum........ don't know if its of any interest but...............



Hi Everyone

I am an Assistant Producer working on the new series of Homes from Hell for ITV in the UK and we are still interesting in hearing your stories about property problems you are experiencing worldwide. We are interested in talking to ex pats and people who have bought holiday homes abroad.

If you would like to chat to us please contact me at:

[email protected]

We have been very successful in the past helping our contributors with their problems and any chat at this stage does not have to be a commitment to film with us.

Kind regards

Laura Stevens

P18PPS

One other point a trusted builder acquaintance has since told me that linea weatherboard is the next problem building product - so if you re-clad stay away from this product.

Apparently the product manufacturers say there is nothing wrong with the product and it is a 'handling error' - the board is so light that one man will easily lift a 5m piece of board, when picked up in this manner the board very subtly will bend in the middle - hence resulting in leaks coming through the walls at a later stage and causing the same kind of damage that a flat-roofed zero eaves house would do.

Be careful!

Am Loolah

Thank you everyone, especially P18PPS, so sorry to hear of your problems too. At this stage I have so much going on it's all too much to take in really. I know to get a WHRS assessment I need his signature on the claim application, but not sure if he'll consent.

Wooly_Cow

Really sorry to hear of your problems. Hope things sort themselves out.

When we were house hunting we saw a few houses which looked (and smelt) like "Leakers" but the agent promised they weren't. I was told (don't know how true it is) that until a house is officially assessed it is not recorded as a leaky home therefore you can't get the council / government compensation (when they agree who is going to pay for what) BUT also as there is no record, the seller can answer the question "Is it a leaky home?" with either "I don't know , it's not been assessed"...which would be honest or "No it isn't" ...which implies it's been assessed.

Anyway this doesn't help you.....if the worst does occur, make sure you register for the governement compensation (about 50% of the repair costs - 25% government 25% council). You have to register within ten years of the house being built I think.

Batty

AM, my advice for what it's worth - sell it as is, where is. A reclad may not take the stigma away (we had one that had been completely redone and still it didn't sell for a long long time because it's all documented on the LIM) and you'll have ended up going through years of torment to not be very far ahead. IF you're ahead at all. There's always someone to buy them. There are even companies that specialise in buying leaky homes. Good luck though and remember...... this too will pass xx