A government plan to deal with the leaky homes issue is ‘a start', and better than anything else that has come from any government on the issue so far, says Tauranga Mayor Stuart Crosby.
The proposal is still under discussion between the government and the six worst affected councils, says Stuart.

'The previous government weren't prepared to do any funding of leaky homes – full stop,” says Stuart.
'Then the six councils in New Zealand that were most affected, we got together and started having a conversation with the housing minister Maurice Williamson.
'At least they have listened and are working on a financial package alongside the homeowners and the councils and developers,” says Stuart.
'So it is progress from where we were.”
As it stands, the government will pay 10 per cent of the repair bill, with the homeowner paying 64 per cent and councils 26 per cent. The homeowner would have to agree not to pursue other options.
But it does leave other options open for homeowners. If they don't want the government's 10 per cent, they can still sue, and they can still go to the Weathertight Homes Resolution Service.
'This is a proposal that stands alongside other avenues that homeowners can take,” says Stuart.
The government's assistance makes finance available to people who are discovering they have very little equity left in their homes and are struggling to get access to finance, says Stuart.
'We have identified that as a key problem,” says Stuart.
Another problem is the money that should be spent on repairing leaky homes is finding its way into lawyers' pockets.
'Some research that we have done indicates that some of the legal costs are equal to the costs of the repairs,” says Stuart.
'We think that is a waste of money.”
The government's proposal stops the flow of leaky homes money to lawyers says Stuart.
'That's why they don't like it.”
Stuart and the mayors and chief executives of the other involved councils are having a telephone conference tomorrow and will probably follow that up with another meeting before Christmas.
'It's not going far enough, but it's a work in progress and we will just have to wait and see how it pans out.”