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'We expected to be in a nice, warm home'

Dunedin couple Roy and Jude Sleeman have waited more than 40 days to get a building consent for...
Dunedin couple Roy and Jude Sleeman have waited more than 40 days to get a building consent for their St Leonards property. Photo by Gregor Richardson.

A Dunedin couple will spend winter in a "cold one-bedroom unit'' after consents delays hindered the building of their new home.

Jude and Roy Sleeman applied for a building consent for their St Leonards home on February 5 in the hopes of completing the build by May.

However, the Sleemans will have to rent through the winter now as their consent was not issued until April 5. 

"One of our builders can't build now,'' Mrs Sleeman said of the issues the delays had caused.

"We have got to get another builder.

"Our electrician was expecting to start about a month ago. We just have to wait now.''

Their property in Kaka St remained untouched as their consent's processing time ballooned beyond the 20 working days statutory requirement.

Earlier this month, the Otago Daily Times reported the average consent from the Dunedin City Council was taking 24.5 days.

More than a quarter were over the statutory limit and some consents beyond 50 days.

The delays have caused issues for building firms and there were reports of some small companies having to down tools and send workers on leave.

"It's frustrating, because we expected to be in a nice warm home [for winter]. Not a cold one-bedroom unit like we are at the moment,'' Mrs Sleeman said.

"The whole process of dealing with it's been diabolical.

"It hasn't allowed us to schedule in things, because we have had to call people and say 'we haven't got our consent yet'.''

The delays meant the couple now expected to get into their new home by August or September and the delay had cost them rent they were not expecting to pay.

"The delays have cost us in rent so far, I think, about $5000,'' she said.

"They really need to sort their issues over at the council. They charge absolutely huge fees and they really need to do things on a reasonable timeframe for people.

"The process of having to chase someone causes a lot of stress we don't need.''

She believed the couple's persistence helped in getting the consent completed.

"I kept hounding them every day,'' she said.

"I was phoning them, my husband would go over there.

"It ended up an absolute nightmare.''

The couple had paid about $7000 for the consent to be processed and the additional costs were particularly grating, Mrs Sleeman said.

"Some people are waiting up to 60 days. What the hell is going on?''

timothy.brown@odt.co.nz

 

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