Hon Nick Smith
National Party Building and Construction Spokesman

25 July 2006

Too little too late for leaky-home owners

Government changes to the failed Weathertight Homes Resolution Service are too little too late for owners of leaky homes, says National’s Building and Construction spokesman, Nick Smith.

“The changes are minor and will not come into affect for yet another year.

“This is a pathetic response for the thousands living in rotting leaky homes.

“It is just another sad chapter in Labour’s story of ignoring, then minimising and now delaying, an issue that needed to be properly addressed four years ago.

“The latest changes fail to fix the problem of homeowners claiming for legal expenses. It is ridiculous to suggest they have no legal representation when confronted with as many as a dozen lawyers representing other parties.

“The law also needs amending to allow other building defects to be addressed as part of a claim.

“National will seek to amend and speed up these changes to get a fairer deal for owners of leaky homes,” says Dr Smith.

ENDS

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