Lowest point for Dunedin couple
Not a day goes by without a tourist taking a picture outside the Dunedin home of Matthew and Vivien Dwyer.
The 104-year-old villa is located halfway up Baldwin St, a convenient photo opportunity for the hundreds who visit the world’s steepest street each day.
But those photo opportunities outside the couple’s dream home failed to capture the nightmare unfolding inside.
That nightmare started after a builder failed to complete renovation work on their home, paid for with the inheritance of Vivien’s late mother.
When the builder was sacked in August 2014, he walked away leaving a property without cladding on one side, a toilet exposed to the Dunedin winter, and holes left in the floor that quickly became an entry point for mice.
The house was unbearable as it became so cold, and the couple also found three mice dead inside their toaster.
As the stress of the unfinished renovations spun out of control, Vivien was diagnosed with breast cancer.
‘‘We even got snowed on going to the toilet . . . it was miserable,’’ Matthew Dwyer said.
And their problems only got worse when they found out their builder, Gregory Padman, a licensed building practitioner, had failed to get consent for the concrete foundations.
A Dunedin City Council building inspector called to the property amid increasing concerns over the work immediately slapped a cease and desist notice on the site. Realistically all we got out of this was a bedroom cupboard, which cost us $35,000.
‘‘Realistically all we got out of this was a bedroom cupboard, which cost us $35,000 – everything else had to be condemned,’’ Matthew Dwyer said,
The pair, who had lived in the home for 12 years, faced a rebuild of around $100,000, and had to extend their mortgage.
The couple were actively involved with the North East Valley community, and their plight attracted support from volunteers and Habitat for Humanity, who gave them $1000 toward remediation work.
‘‘We know the builder isn’t typical, but he hurt us and we need your help to make our house a home again,’’ their Givealittle campaign read.
The couple have filed a complaint with the licensing board and are taking Padman to the Disputes Tribunal.
Padman declined to comment until the matter had been heard.