Hon Dr Nick Smith MP
National Party Building & Construction Spokesman

10 December 2007

Leaky homes target missed by a mile

Leaky home owners are still being let down by the Government, says National Party Building spokesman Nick Smith.

Dr Smith is commenting on figures tabled in Parliament today which reveal that only 155 weathertight homes claims were resolved in the 2006/07 financial year, despite the Department of Building and Housing’s forecast of between 350 and 1,100 claim resolutions.

“This is an appalling statistic, and is testament to the failure of the Labour Government in tackling this important issue,” says Dr Smith.

“Labour promised in 2002 that its leaky homes legislation would resolve cases within three years, yet five years later only 15% of cases have been resolved.

“We’ve had three attempts by the Government to get this legislation right, with changes in 2004, 2005 and 2007. Each time, we are promised the problem is fixed.

“These latest statistics show Labour’s whole approach to fixing leaky homes is flawed.”

Dr Smith says matters have been made worse by Prime Minister Helen Clark passing the Ministerial responsibility for this mess around the Cabinet table like a hot potato.

“Ten Ministers and three different departments have had responsibility over the past eight years.

“These latest figures show that the Government has failed to put the emphasis on where it is most needed – getting the houses fixed.”

ENDS

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