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October, 2011 The Queenstown Lakes District Council has been left with a $2.4 million budget blowout after property developers have said they have no funds to fix leaky buildings.Council deputy chief executive officer and finance manager Stewart Burns said the council could not get insurance for that kind of risk, which meant the community had to "stump up for this kind of cost". However, the veracity of some developers claiming they were unable to pay was called into doubt. "Developers can plead they have no funds, but we are unsure if this is the case," Mr Burns said. Mayor Vanessa van Uden asked whether the council was comfortable being "the last man standing" when developers claimed they could not afford to fix damp-ridden houses. Cr Cath Gilmour suggested lobbying nationally for a solution that did not leave ratepayers paying for developers' mistakes. The subject was fraught with difficulty because "leaky home" problems could take up to 12 years to become apparent, Mr Burns said. However, Ms van Uden said a line had to be drawn. "We have to ask how much do we bottle-feed home-buyers?" she said. "There needs to be publicity to say check your house, but also to say this is not fair to ratepayers." Source: The Southland Times
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