Latest: Good news for leaky building owners

Home buyers have finally been given significant new remedies against real estate agents who knowingly sell them leaky homes without disclosure.

Under the Real Estate Agents Act (Professional Conduct and Client Care) Rules, which came into force at the end of last year, agents can be sued for not telling buyers about leaky homes. They can be fined $100,000, and must warn vendors about the severe repercussions of cover-ups.

But the new legislation only goes some way toward fixing New Zealand's enormous leaky home problem, which was estimated in a new report last month to cost $11.3 billion and affect between 22,000 and 89,000 properties.

"This leaves thousands of New Zealanders in a terrible position," said Building and Construction Minister Maurice Williamson, who commissioned the report. "They may not be able to borrow the money to repair their homes, or to sell them, so their single most important asset is decaying in front of their eyes."

Mr Williamson said the report estimated that only a minority of leaky homes - around 3500 - had been repaired to date and about 9000 had gone beyond the 10-year legal liability time period.

"Issues can be laid at the doorstep of a lot of people and organisations, but the blame game has been played for too long - now it's time to act," he said.

"That's why the Government is bringing together a package as a priority to help affected homeowners repair their homes and move on."

We applaud the Government's intentions and look forward to details of the package.