Prison with million dollar views
Million dollar apartments have become luxury prisons for 48 residents at Tauranga’s Cayman Apartments after it was revealed their Code Compliance Certificates ‘‘may have been issued in error’’ by Tauranga City Council.
Apartment owner Deborah Lake has joined a $36 million lawsuit after her lock-and-leave lifestyle apartment turned into a ball and chain alleged to have structural defects, weathertightness issues and incorrect fire protection.
A view of Mt Maunganui, Mauao, ‘‘close enough you could almost reach out and touch it’’ is little comfort for Lake who faces extraordinary body corporate fees to undertake investigations, repairs and fund the legal challenge in the tens of thousands of dollars.
‘‘It is a struggle to pay those fees,’’ she said.
‘‘We’ve all had to come up with a lot of money and I am unsure if a mortgage would be given on these properties with the Code Compliance Certificate in question.
‘‘I never knew the council could do that, essentially take away your CCC with a notation. It’s just shot our value completely.’’
Lake says she undertook all the due diligence expected when purchasing a property.
‘‘We got all the reports and did everything a home buyer should have done,’’ she said.
‘‘We had faith in a process but the process has let us down.’’
Unable to sell, residents filed the lawsuit against 16 defendants involved in the building and consenting process.
Tauranga City Council, and high-profile building firm CBC Construction 2010 Limited, are listed as defendants.
The lawsuit comes at a time the council building inspection team is wracked with controversy over building inspectors failure to detect defects at the Bella Vista development, which resulted in a $14.2 million settlement.
Retired judge Graeme Colgan is investigating the council building inspections team for their role in that failure. QC Paul Heath already concluded the council had significant failings in its role as the Building Consents Authority.
Property owners filed the lawsuit after a notation was left on their property files in November 2015 after Council settled after one apartment owner over defects.
The notation said the CCC ‘‘may have been issued in error and therefore we do not recommend reliance on it’’.
The body corporate conducted an investigation which they allege revealed a wide range of building defects and showed negligence from the builder and council inspectors.
Council confirmed the notation existed but it was amended in June 2016 to read: ‘‘proceedings have been brought alleging that the Council was negligent in issuing the building consent and the code compliance certificate... as a result of these proceedings, the Council is aware of building defects affecting that other unit’’.
‘‘It is alleged there are roof defects, wall integrity and weather tightness, decks and balustrades, the joinery is noncompliant, there are defects to the podium the building sits on and the block walls, issues in the basement drainage, stormwater issues and passive fire protection not up to standard,’’ Rainey Law’s Jeanna Heatlie said.
‘‘We’ll go all the way in court because there is nowhere else to go.’’
CBC director Peter Cooney defended the building quality saying they were built in accordance with the code at the time they were constructed.
‘‘Of course it’s not going to meet the standards today,’’ he said. The apartments were built in 2007.
He was unable to comment further on the legal challenge.
In a brochure advertising their services CBC boasted the Cayman Apartments was the first highrise Mt Maunganui had seen for years and was ‘‘delivered well within timeframe’’.