Financial Assistance Package
The Financial Assistance Package (FAP) was introduced in July 2011 to help owners fund repairs to leaky homes. The package essentially promises that the government and the council who issued the Code Compliance Certificate will each contribute 25% towards repair costs. The government will then guarantee any bank loan taken out by the claimant for the remainder.
The FAP is administered by the Department of Building and Housing (DBH), the same government department that administers leaky home claims through its Weathertight Homes Resolution Service (WHRS) division. If you qualify for a claim with the WHRS, you qualify for the FAP.
To qualify for a WHRS claim, and consequently the FAP, three conditions must be met:
- The home must have been built less than 10-years ago
- There must be a leak
- There must be damage caused by the leak
The FAP was intended by the government as a way to 
divert funds towards fixing homes, rather than funding lawyers. It was also designed to lessen the burden on councils, who bear the brunt of claims when other liable parties like builders and developers go bust.
Even with the FAP, the owner must still fund 50% of the repairs. Additional finance must be arranged by the claimant. In some situations it is feasible that a claimant may need to pay 75% of repairs, as would be the case if there was no council presence in a claim; all that would be left is the government's 25%.
If a council is party to a FAP claim, it is feasible that it could be held 100% liable for the repairs, but with the package it is only required to pay 25%. Advisory groups recommend that claimants study carefully the pro's and con's of using the FAP against making a WHRS claim or District/High Court claim, as the amount of compensation received can be drastically different.
