A landslide behind their property has helped bury an Auckland couple's chances of owning another home. File photo. Photo: RNZ / Mohammad Alafeshat
A West Auckland couple fear they will never be homeowners again after pouring their life savings into a house that has been deemed unliveable after the Auckland Anniversary floods.
The couple says it took more than a year to get an offer from the council, but accepting it will leave them with little chance of getting another mortgage.
Ella and Ryan - not their real names - were both full time workers, they saved for years and even sold jewellery to come up with a 10 percent deposit for their dream home: a $1.45 million property on Scenic Drive in West Auckland.
They had been living there for just 10 months when the 2023 Auckland Anniversary floods hit.
"We are in a really bad situation," Ella said.
Damage to the interior of the house on Scenic Drive. Photo: Supplied
The house initially seemed unaffected by the deluge, but two days later there was a landslide behind the property - they came back from work to find emergency services waiting outside their home.
"They told us we have only 10 minutes to evacuate the house. Then we went inside the house with a policeman. They gave us few minutes. I just dragged the laptop, some photos, passport and some clothes for one or two days," Ella said.
Their home was red stickered and later put under category three, meaning it qualified for council purchase due to an intolerable risk to life.
In a statement, Auckland Council said the price of the property was calculated based on its market value before the floods.
Sixteen months after Ella and Ryan left their Scenic Drive home, they finally received an offer.
Auckland Council valued their property at $1.37 million. Of this $1.1 million was covered by insurance and Earthquake Commission payments.
In addition, the council would deduct 5 percent of the property's market value as homeowner contribution, so the couple would receive slightly more than $205,000 from the council.
"The payment council pays just covers the loan and we end up with zero assets," Ryan said.
In its statement, Auckland Council said the support scheme was not intended to compensate for financial losses.
"The core intent of our support scheme, agreed with the government, is about helping people move away from situations where there is an intolerable risk to life from future storms.
"As part of the consultation, in establishing the voluntary buy-out scheme, Aucklanders agreed to support council buying out at-risk homes, but they gave clear feedback that in addition to insurance contributions, homeowners should be making a financial contribution too."
In the meantime, they're paying $650 a week rent for a three-bedroom home in Henderson.
Ryan said they had little hope of securing another mortgage from the bank because of their age.
And if he was able to get a mortgage, he would have to pay it based on a 20-year term, he said.
He said there was no way they would be able to afford a similar property.
Ella and Ryan said they had less than a month to accept the council offer.
Minister of Emergency Management and Recovery Mark Mitchell said while the recovery was centrally supported, it was locally led and it was not appropriate for him to comment on council matters.
