Years of leaks in Housing NZ apartment make it uninhabitable

Housing New Zealand has stopped tenanting a leaky unit in the defective Hobson Gardens.

Leaks are so bad that unit 8E is deemed uninhabitable until the entire twin-block tower is fixed.

One resident said the unit had been empty for some years because the state organisation couldn't tenant it due to health and safety issues. Water ingress is so serious that the state has been forced to temporarily condemn its own place.

The owners' committee was spurred on to take action to get the huge block fixed when it realised the seriousness of problems with one of two apartments Housing NZ Corporation has in the block.

"Some owners wanted to stick their heads in the sand and ignore this, until Housing NZ's rep poked his head above the parapet and said that if we didn't act as a body corporate to fix the block, they'd take action against us. And you know how deep the state's pockets are," said one worried resident.

To read the full NZ Herald article, click here

Posted: 27 Jul 2009

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