‘It’s disgusting’: Couple take on developer over missing shower

It was supposed to be a new business opportunity encompassing a three storey mixed use townhouse.

Located on a central Christchurch street, Alethea Muir and Aaron Woods had planned to use the top two floors for Airbnb accommodation and start a beauty therapy studio in the bottom floor commercial unit.

But what the couple got from the Williams Corporation development was not what they thought they had signed up for.

Crucial to the beauty therapy studio, was a shower, which they say was promised in the initial plans. However, when the development was finished, the couple and other owners in the complex discovered they had a toilet and hand basin in their commercial space, but no shower, Muir says.

Williams Corporation co-founder Matthew Horncastle conceded there was an issue but has refused to divulge exactly how many units were impacted.

Muir and Woods told Stuff they were never consulted about the design change and said the way the current floor plan was meant they could not put a compliant shower in without major reconstruction. They said they would have to go through a re-consenting process and estimated the entire process could cost up to $40,000.

Irving Builders managing director Lance Irving said he had taken a look at the commercial unit and confirmed the materials and labour was going to cost a lot more than the $10,000 Williams Corporation initially offered the couple in re-compensation, to put in a compliant shower.

"It's going to cost between $35-40,000," he told Stuff.

Irving said it was a "big" job. The current cavity slider door into the rest room would have to be taken out and remade and the wall it was on would have to be opened up. He also said the tiled floor would have to be "cut up" and re-waterproofed and retiled. Another wall would also need to be opened up and pipes and electricity would have to be reworked.

He said a surveyor would cost up to $500, a shower $2000, a plumber $3000, an electrician up to $4000, labour $12,000, a plasterer $3000, painting up to $6000, a new cavity door up to $3000 plus GST and the builder's margin.

"You easily get a large figure. This is not a quick fix," he told Stuff.

The couple claimed they spoke to Williams Corporation's national design manager Nathan Veevers as soon as they became aware of the plan change, and alleged Veevers apologised that they were not consulted.

However, Horncastle disagreed, saying all owners were notified of the plan change.

When asked by Stuff if he was calling Muir and Woods a liar, he responded: "I am not calling anyone a liar. I assume this is just timing and we are interpreting differently. We notified the customers when we believed it was appropriate."

Another purchaser who did not want to be named said they also believed they had signed up to having two bathrooms in their townhouse, including one in the commercial space which they thought would be beneficial to office tenants. They also alleged they were not notified of the plan change.

"The one thing that we found unfair is that we purchased the property at the same price as others who ended up with two showers/bathrooms."

He said the contract explicitly stated that modifications might occur due to structural and compliance requirements.

In this case the installation of the shower would have made the bathroom non-compliant resulting in non-issuance of the Code Compliance Certificate.

Horncastle said contracts provided "limited rights" for claims against Williams Corporation "unless there was a material and adverse effect on the property's nature and value which is not the case here".

The couple disagreed, and said to date they'd spent $11,000 on legal fees to prove it had negatively impacted the property's valuation.

Bayleys valuer Will Black told Stuff any extra amenities in a townhouse added value.

"Conversely it negatively impacts the value if they are not there."

Horncastle said all units impacted were offered $10,000 in remuneration for the loss of the shower which he described as being "fair and generous considering the circumstances".

Claims that it would cost $40,000 to re-consent and put a compliant shower in were "unfounded" and lacked "any substantial justification", he said.

"It is crucial to emphasise that our contracts were signed with full disclosure and advised professional legal consultation. Our customers had the opportunity to seek amendments to the template agreements, which many do, to safeguard their interests further. No such amendments were sought in this instance."

Muir and Woods disagreed and said it came down to moral and ethical business practices.

"It's disgusting what they are doing," Muir said. "Unless you've got a million dollars in your pocket they get away with it."

The couple and the other owner spoken to by Stuff had looked at taking the developer to the Disputes Tribunal to get a satisfactory resolution.

Muir said there was a principle at stake and wanted to warn other prospective buyers.

"These development companies cannot do things like this to people. It's just not right."

In April, Horncastle said he was offloading luxury assets as his flashy personal brand sent the wrong message at a time when Kiwis were doing it tough.

Those assets included a $6m yacht and the company's plush penthouse base.

Horncastle also listed his multi-million, three-storey Christchurch home that features an indoor swimming pool, sauna and four-car garage.

In the same month the company abandoned plans to build 350 dwellings over four years in Hornby on a $30million site and had sold a "body" of land to a commercial investor.

In March the building firm put its plush penthouse office in central Christchurch up for rent.

Previously Horncastle said the asset purge did not mean the company was "folding" but rather the company and its directors were freeing up capital "by choice".

- This story was first publised by Stuff