Plight of those with leaky homes

While I am happy as a taxpayer to contribute towards remediation of the leaky buildings at Middlemore Hospital, I do regret that successive governments have not helped those taxpayers who, through no fault of their own, had purchased, from approved plans, what would turn out to be leaky homes. There are many of us.

The so-called “financial assistance package” has unfortunately not been accessible to many homeowners. It seems so unfair that hardworking taxpayers get no relief for something not of their making. Even interest-free loans would have been something.

Many of us are approaching retirement, or already retired, with large mortgages when we would have been mortgage-free. Many will have to sell their homes once they are fixed and may never be able to buy again, at least not in Auckland.

Through our taxes, we will be making contributions towards hospitals, rebuilding Christchurch, Pike River . . . the list goes on. Yet any pleas we have made have fallen on deaf ears. Some of us have homes with issues dating from before the establishment of the Weathertightness Homes Resolution Service (2003) which have yet to be remediated.

Sixteen years of trauma. Occasionally, someone will raise this in the Herald, then the issue gets buried again.

No one wants to know.