Building defects have cost new home owners more than $10 billion throughout the past decade, new research has found.

Financial comparison site Mozo released it Property Pain - Building Defects Report 2019  today, revealing new homeowners have been faced $10.5 billion in repair costs over the past decade.

The figure is based on ABS data on the number of building completions in the past 10 years.

The report also found most new and newly renovated apartment and house owners surveyed have been plagued by defects that have cost them $6,434 and $5,839 respectively.  

At a glance:

• Financial comparison site Mozo has released a new report, showing new homeowners have been slugged $10.5 billion in repair costs over the past decade.
• Leaks and cracks were found to be the most common issues faced.
• The average apartment defect bill was $6,434 compared to $5,839 for a house.

To deal with the issues, 60 per cent of apartment owners facing defects had to contribute to a sinking fund and 24 per cent were forced to pay special levies to fund the repairs.  

The findings come as regulators continue to grapple with the fall out over the serious safety issues plaguing apartments in Melbourne’s Southbank and Olympic Park, Erskineville, Zetland and Mascot in Sydney. 

Mozo property expert Steve Jovceski said while buying a bright and shiny new property might seem like a good idea, the reality for many Australians is one of costly repairs and years of remediation.

“If you are still waiting to have your apartment or house repaired, it’s time to act," he said.

"With fixed building warranties across the country, once the regulated time period to claim has passed you’ll struggle to get a developer or builder to fix defects with your property."

Mozo’s survey found all those who have bought a new apartment or house in the past decade experienced building defects.

Internal water leaks, cracking to internal or external structures, water penetration from the outside, guttering faults, tiling problems and defective plumbing were the most common problems for owners. 

While the average cost of apartment repairs was $6,434, Mozo found 4 per cent of owners had to pay above $50,000.

With 670,197 apartments completed in the past 10 years, Mozo estimates buyers have had to pay out $4.3 billion on repairs. 

Those buying houses fared slightly better on average forking out $5,839 on repairs.

However, 32 per cent had to pay more than $5,000.

Mozo estimates that with 1,059,913 4 houses completed over the past decade, buyers have had to pay $6.2 billion on repairs. 

Most apartment repairs (57 per cent) were completed in under 3 months but 21 per cent had to wait up to 6 months and 9 per cent are still waiting for the defects to be fixed. 

Click here to view the full report.

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