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Source: ONE News -
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Owners of 12 leaky townhouses in South Auckland are suing the Manukau City Council for granting consent for the buildings.
The creepy crawlies living in the walls of Wayne Hammond's house are just one sign of damp and decay. He says the house should never have been built.
"The interior timbers holding it up have gone. They're just crumbling away," he told ONE News.
Ten years ago Manukau City Council issued a Code of Compliance for Wayne's house along with 11 neighbouring townhouses.
The legal action comes after council engineers confirmed the properties were uninhabitable last week and forced residents out of their homes.
Home owner Terry Corin says the speed at which it all happened stunned everybody.
"Suddenly you come home on a Friday and three hours later you're out, and the locks are changed."
The council put the residents in a hotel for a week but now they're on their own.
Terry works from home and he says his business has been hit hard.
"I've got customers equipment in there and they're wondering when it's going to come back," he says.
The owners of the 12 townhouses are suing the council and developers for rebuilding costs, stress and anxiety.
Their lawyer, Paul Grimshaw, says of the 6,000 leaky home cases he's working on these ones are the worst.
"They're living through an absolute nightmare, they've been kicked out of their homes ... they will be getting full compensation if I have anything to do with it," says Grimshaw.
The council will not comment on its involvement over the last few years but says it has acted swiftly and appropriately since confirming the homes were unsafe last week. It is working with Housing New Zealand to help residents find new homes to rent.
