NZPA (abridged)
Estimating the number of leaky homes and how it would take to resolve claims would be meaningless, Department of Building and Housing chief executive Katrina Bach said yesterday.
Appearing before Parliament's social services select committee, Ms Bach and Weathertight Homes Resolution Service (WHRS) acting national manager Nigel Bickle were questioned by MPs about the number of homes affected by leaks and asked how they long they thought it would take to resolve claims.
Officials are now projecting as many as 15,000 homes could be involved but are not ruling out a higher figure, calling the latest number a best guess.
The 2002 Hunn Report initially picked that 6000 to 12,000 dwellings might fail, at a potential cost of $120 million to $240 million.
But the cost of repairs has also been revised upward to about $1 billion - about five times the previous Government estimate.
Committee member National MP Nick Smith questioned the effectiveness of the current system for resolving claims, saying it would take 67 years using the current process for the claims to be processed.
Ms Bach told MPs there was no time frame devised by the department.
'It has a very long tail, this problem. It would be meaningless to project,' Ms Bach said.
However, the current system was not the best way to expedite the claims and the department could do better, she said.
It was more likely the claims would take '15 to 18 years as the issue becomes evident,' she said.
Mr Bickle said 3845 applications had been filed at November 23, with 2581 claims of them active.
Mr Bickle said he agreed the process for resolving claims could be improved.
Dr Smith also challenged the officials over figures provided over the years.
'In 2002 advisors said 10,000 (homes) was a gross exaggeration and now in briefing they are saying it is more like 15,000,' he said.
Ms Bach said the information the department had now, had improved, due to more robust data.
'We know a lot more now than in 2002,' she said.
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