Prospective apartment buyers have every right to feel apprehensive following the screening of the documentary With apartment living now the future of urban development in our cities, what certainty do purchasers have that they are not buying into such a disaster? Structural engineer John Scarry, who has warned successive governments of the problem of leaky and structurally unsound buildings over the past two decades, says it is probably impractical and too expensive to secure a comprehensive up-to-date pre-purchase building report for an apartment development.
SUPPLIED
The Sirocco apartment development in Wellington has been highlighted in the documentary as an example of the devastating problem facing owners of substandard apartment buildings. The building has been surveyed as uneconomic to fix, and the cantilevered balconies are off limits, but people are still living here.
Appointment Viewing: The week s best free-to-air and Sky TV programming stuff.co.nz - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from stuff.co.nz Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Prime TV documentary A Living Hell: Apartment Disasters explores the leaky home crisis in New Zealand.
We see them everywhere in our cities – vacated leaky apartment buildings and terraced houses covered in white plastic sheeting while they undergo remedial work. What we don’t see is the huge personal cost and anguish behind the defective buildings. And, in case you thought this only happened with older buildings from a particular era, you’re mistaken. Apartments are still being built with problems. The Altera Apartments in Stonefields, Auckland, was completed in 2015 by Fletchers, one of our largest residential building companies. But a new TV documentary screening on
Entitled
A Living Hell: Apartment Disasters, the programme reveals that even new builds are not immune to a glut of defections, which can cost millions to fix and cause huge problems for owners who thought they were taking a prudent step onto the property ladder.
Roger Levie, who founded HOBANZ (Home Owners and Buyers Association Inc.) with John Gray, told Sunday Morning the organisation had helped thousands of people address building issues since it was formed in 2007.
HOBANZ initially helped home owners and body corporates with issues like leaking buildings, moisture getting in and rot - and Levie said the environment that created those leakage issues had lead to many buildings not being fire compliant and having structural issues.