$1m townhouses set to be bowled due to leaks

Thursday, 29 February 2024

A 1980s townhouse development in Auckland is set to be demolished due to the extent of the problems with it.

The 12 two-bedroom homes on Pratt Street, Freemans Bay, in Auckland have rateable values of more than $1 million each.

They were put on the market as a bulk lot last year.

This month, the High Court at Auckland ruled that the unit plan for the complex could be cancelled and the underlying land sold.

The application to the court was made by the development’s body corporate and its chairperson.

Justice Mathew Downs said many of the building elements, including the cladding and roof joinery, needed to be replaced and there were problems with leaks.

The repairs were anticipated to cost about $4.5 million, and each of the unit owners would have to put in between $350,000 and $420,000. But most could not afford to.

That meant the body corporate was unable to meet its obligation to repair and maintain all the building elements, as required by law.

“The only realistic option is to realise the remaining value in the units by cancelling the unit plan and selling the land. This course has the support of 10 of the 12 owners. The remaining two owners have abstained. The body corporate has passed a special resolution to cancel the unit plan and sell the underlying land,” Downs said.

Downs said the court could cancel a unit plan if it was just and equitable with regards to the rights of any creditor of the body corporate, and anyone who had an interest in the land.

“I am satisfied this test is met given the circumstances…Mortgagees will not be prejudiced because the orders will address their position.”

James Were, a Bayleys salesperson who marketed the complex last year, said it had been identified under Auckland Council’s Proposed Plan Change 78 as being part of a ‘walkable catchment area’, in which buildings of at least six storeys could be permitted.