The Supreme Court on 22 December 2016 released its decision in Lee v Whangarei District Council. At issue was whether section 37(1) of the Weathertight Homes Resolution Services Act 2006 (the WHRS Act) – which provides that an application for an assessor’s report stops the running of the period of time set forth by Limitation Acts – applies equally to claims that proceed in the ordinary courts (rather than the Weathertight Homes Tribunal (WHT)). The Supreme Court held that it did, after the High Court and Court of Appeal had struck out the plaintiff’s claim as time-barred. This ruling is extremely significant to leaky home claimants because it allows homeowners to decide whether to proceed in either the WHT or the High Court without giving rise to any new limitation issues.
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