Mayors call on Key to solve leaks crisis

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"Almost certain bankruptcy" for tens of thousands of leaky-home owners can only be averted by intervention from the prime minister, Auckland's mayor says.

John Banks said yesterday that the Government had "balked" at a solution to the crisis, which was this week revealed as affecting up to 89,000 homes at a total cost of about $11.3 billion.

"The proposition that we walk away and the Government walks back to the Cabinet table with nothing from us in terms of a solution isn't a solution," Mr Banks said last night.

He and Wellington Mayor Kerry Prendergast rejected a solution suggested by the Government for local government to pay 30 per cent of the repair costs and central government 10 per cent.

Building and Construction Minister Maurice Williamson said their decision was "disappointing" but left the door open to more negotiations next year. If no new agreement can be reached, leaky-home owners will get nothing new apart from cheap loans for repairs funded by the Government.

Mr Banks said the Government had to do better than that. "I'm quietly confident that when Kerry Prendergast and I get in front of the prime minister in the new year, our economic fortunes will start to look brighter so that we can put up a formula to the Government that is acceptable."

Negotiations were hard and "very painful", but leaky-home victims faced "great depression, sickness and almost certain bankruptcy", Mr Banks said.

Ms Prendergast also pinned her hopes for a solution last night on Mr Key.

"I've asked for an urgent meeting with the PM in late January but that is not going to help people as they contemplate Christmas and New Year living in a leaky house."

The Government had entered talks this year determined to offer no more than 10 per cent of the cost. "There was no negotiation," she said.

A PricewaterhouseCoopers report on leaky homes made public on Tuesday said between 22,000 and 89,000 homes were affected. The consensus estimate was 42,000 homes.

The leading causes of the crisis included ill-judged regulations in the 1990s and the use of untested materials and building techniques.