A lot of things are taken for granted in India but in most countries, one mistake intentional or unintentional could mean a huge penalty. The rules are strict and breaking rules is not an option.An Indian-origin man named Deepak Lal, who is also an Auckland homeowner, has been sued by a developer and asked to pay 1.6 crore in Indian rupees for building his home ‘in the wrong place’. His property has been built right on the neighbour’s boundary.
It has become a nightmare for him as there is a difference of just one metre between the boundary of Lal’s house and where it should have been located. The error has been reportedly committed by the builder, yet Lal has to make the payment for constructing the house at the wrong place. In 2020, he contacted a construction company named ‘Pinnacle Homes’ to design and build his home in the Papakura area in Auckland of New Zealand’s North Island.
Even though the construction work was almost completed in mid-2020, the finishing work on the three-bedroom house came to a halt in August after the construction company called to tell him about the boundary mix-up.Lal’s three-bedroom home is located right on the boundary of his neighbouring property owned by a company called C94 Development. The company wants him to move his house a little or pay 1.6 crore in damages.
Last year, he contacted a company called ‘Pinnacle Homes’ to design and build his home in an area called Papakura area in the city. Halfway through 2020, it was on the verge of completion. However, it was during this time when the whole mix-up.
The neighboring property is owned by a company named C94 Development. Lal’s three-bedroom abode happened to be right on the boundary of the former’s house. The company asked for the house to move back a little, otherwise they will have to pay the heavy amount of damages.
According to a Kiwi news website called ‘Stuff,’ the builders who made Lal’s home had already gotten a building consent that states that the home is actually in the correct place.
Deepak Lal’s lawyer, Matt Taylor, told the website, “It seems likely that the issue arose as a result of an error made at the design stage likely to have occurred when the resource consent information was transferred by the designers to the plans submitted for building consent.”
For the man involved in all the ruckus, this is nothing short of a nightmare. “It’s a nightmare for me. I wake up in the middle of the night and think, ‘How am I going to solve this?’,” Lal said. He holds the builder responsible for obvious reasons.
As of now, the only option the family has is to move to a cheaper place for the time being. However, they are having issues with finding such a place as they are quite tight in the pocket as well.
