Bella Vista residents speak at Tauranga City Council before they were bought out.

All 21 affected Bella Vista homes deemed shoddy will be purchased by council, homeowners have heard.

The decision came after an emotionally charged day of debating by Tauranga City Council members where affected homeowners laid bare the emotional turmoil they have been left in.

Councillors heard how child adoption plans were put on hold, children and families have been sick from stress, marriages had ended, engagements had been ruined and many were taking sleeping pills just to rest at night.

CHRISTEL YARDLEY/STUFF Janeen and Melissa Powell speak about the impact. Melissa said the devastation had a "ripple effect".

A buy out was the preferred option by all affected homeowners living what they described as a nightmare and applause was heard when homeowners were told.

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After hearing from the public, councillors heard a report from QC Paul Heath who was hired to see what , if any, involvement council had in the Bella Vista debacle.

CHRISTEL YARDLEY/STUFF Damian and Jenny Coffey tell Tauranga City Councillors about the emotional toll being evicted from their home has had.

Heath highlighted potential issues with the building consent process, environment management and council inspections.

The buy out option was met with relief from homeowners. It is not clear what the final cost to ratepayers will be.

There is no word yet what figure will be offered to the homeowners with negotiations likely to occur through legal channels.

CHRISTEL YARDLEY/STUFF Tauranga City Council Chief Executive Gary Poole listens on.

The emotional toll from the failed Bella Vista development was laid bare to Tauranga City Councillors ahead of their decision.

Councillors' options ranged from a buy out, to remediation, to doing nothing at all.

Homeowners were evicted from their properties on March 9 and have been locked out ever since.

CHRISTEL YARDLEY/STUFF Bella Vista home owners meet with Tauranga City Council to discuss outcomes.

Melissa Powell earlier told councillors the devastation from Bella Vista was like a "ripple effect".

"It affects every part of our lives in some way," she said.

For the Powells this meant a breakdown of family, the deterioration of her mother's health and future plans put on hold.

TOM LEE/STUFF Homeowners have been locked out of the council meeting debating the future of their properties, along with the public.

The effect was different, but equally devastating for each of the 21 affected homeowners.

Damian and Jenny Coffey were issued a full code of compliance certificate from council and were hopeful their family, which consisted of four dogs, would be bolstered through the adoption process.

"We have had a rough journey having a family and have been going through assessment to adopt a child," Jenny said.

CHRISTEL YARDLEY/STUFF Bella Vista Homes director Danny Cancian says council never asked him to complete geotechnical reports that were required under its rules.

"We were worried being removed from our home and not having secure has impacted on this process."

Jenny was angry at council for the interruption to their lives at no fault of their own.

"All we did was buy a house and trust in the process," she said.

TOM LEE/STUFF Residents of the failed Bella Vista Homes, Lakes Boulevard were told they cannot return to their homes on March 9.

Degan Prodger said his dream of owning a house to raise his family quickly turned into a nightmare.

"After 22 years of marriage this finally happened," he said.

"On Friday March 9 that's when our world was turned upside down with the notice of immediate evacuation. We had no idea where we were going until right before we left.

"The following weeks saw us in and out of motels. It might sound like a holiday for some but to us it was a nightmare. My daughter would cry saying she wanted to go home.

"It's wrecked us physically and emotionally. My family has been sick all the time."

Proctor said things got so bad his daughter would stop unpacking her bag whenever they found a temporary place to live.

"She couldn't eat properly. It has wrecked us physically emotionally."

Mayor Greg Brownless said the homeowners had "been to hell and back:.

"Based on the advice we received we believe this was the way forward."

THE STORY SO FAR

On March 9, 21 Bella Vista homeowners were evicted from their properties as a storm approached. They have been locked out ever since.

Subsequent investigations by council officers revealed shoddy workmanship in their properties with issues found from the foundations to the roof in 21 properties in the Lakes Boulevard and Aneta Way development.

This was despite homes passing council inspections and four homes having full code of compliance sign off from council.

The failings at Bella Vista have raised questions about how council handles its role as a Building Consent Authority and how widespread the issue was.

Bella Vista has not divided the community as much as it has united them against the council. Facebook pages offering support to evacuees and dedicated to exposing council's role in the saga have sprouted up since March 9.

As the saga unfolded, investigations by Stuff uncovered questionable behaviour from the inspections team, affidavits from former employees speaking of intentional misconduct from staff, resource consents issued without key information and a lacking producer statement system.

While some homeowners lay blame with Bella Vista's director Danny Cancian, many say it was the council that had the responsibility to ensure the houses were up to standard.

QC Paul Heath has been appointed by council to look into any council failings and his report would be given to homeowners on Wednesday.

The lead inspector for the properties revealed he had purchased a Bella Vista home, opposite the affected buildings, before taking on this role. The price paid for his land was significantly lower than the neighbouring properties of similar size.

Even though this was declared at the outset through official channels it has been condemned by industry professionals.

Bella Vista homes also went against the council's own rules during the resource consent stage.

There was a requirement for Cancian to produce a second geotechnical report once he doubled the size of the subdivision from 8 to 16 homes on Lakes Boulevard.

This was never requested by council and the resource consent was signed off.

Furthermore it was uncovered council had an over reliance on producer statements during its building inspection process. This issue was highlighted as being a factor in the leaky homes saga at the start of the millenium.

A producer statement is a professional opinion provided by those involved in the building process. They usually carry an insurance guarantee but carry no weight under the building act. Councils must assess who they will accept producer statements for and what information is required before accepting them.

Tauranga City Council general manager CE Group Kirsty Downey, who has since resigned her position, said producer statements would be accepted by any Chartered Practitioner of Engineering (CPeng) member will be accepted as read.

"We receive the PS4 [producer statement 4], provided after construction is finished, during the inspection process or at the end of the job, so it is very rare that we would inspect after receiving a PS4 from a Chartered Professional Engineer," Downey said.

Engineering New Zealand was critical of council on this point.

"Regardless of the information provided by a producer statement author, the BCA [building consent authority] remains responsible for deciding if it is satisfied on reasonable grounds that any building work complies with the Building Act, the Building Code and approved building consent," they said.

As Heath's report is prepared to be read every property owner is now considering legal action against council.

All say they want to have their house bought out at full market value, before any defect, and some compensation for the stress of being left in limbo since March 9.