Report concerns owners of leaky homes 

Source: ONE News

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The government is coming under fire over a leaked report on its response to the country's multi-billion dollar leaky home problem.

There have been reports over the weekend that the government is going to leave homeowners to foot over 60% of the leaky homes bill.

Click here to see a copy of the leaked report (pdf).

However, speaking on Q+A , Prime Minister John Key says it is important that a homeowner is guaranteed access to funds.

"Unlike the previous government, we have actually fronted up and said 'Look, we need to try and find the pathway forward'," Key says.

Key says the leaky homes proposal has not yet been signed off, but that under the proposal's terms, a homeowner would always retain the right to sue.

"But the most important thing is we need to make sure that homeowners have an opportunity to fix their house, so that they can move on, either sell the property or do whatever they want," Key says.

The Prime Minister told Q+A he cannot go into details about the plan just yet, but "the basic fundamentals are guaranteed access to funds if people want to take up that option, the ability to have the house repaired and the ability to over time work their way out of the situation, and it will depend on their income what their repayment schedule looks like".

John Gray of the Home Owners and Buyers Association is not impressed by what he has seen of the proposal.

"This is so far off the mark, it is laughable and I am deeply disappointed in the government," he says.

"No claimant in their right mind would forego their opportunity to recover 90 or even 100% against all of the parties, including the council, by taking a deal which sees the councils only paying 30%."

Gray's Association blames councils most for the leaky homes problem, and claims the contingent liability for all that fault will leave the new Auckland super city technically insolvent from day one.