As Auckland claims to the Weathertight Homes Resolution Service topped 2002, the governement appears to be changing direction on the issue.

All the mayors except two have been relieved of direct  input into the forum which has been negotiating with Business and Construction Minister Maurice Williamson.

Responsibility instead has been handed solely to Auckland Mayor John Banks and Wellington Mayor Kerry Prendergast.

“The fact of the matter is, we’re at a sticky stage,” Mr Banks told The Dominion Post last night.

“It’s not a great criticism of my mayoral colleagues, it’s just this is very hard. It is very difficult to fix a complex problem with a committee.”

Figures issued on Thursday by the Housing and Building Department show claims to the Weathertight Homes Resolution Service topped 5916 as of November 30.

There were 21 new claims lodged in November and there have been 517 new claims lodged since January last year.

Auckland has topped 2002 claims, Wellington 357

Auckland has topped 2002 claims, Wellington 357 and Christchurch 231.

Home Owners and Buyers Association president John Gray said it was “morally reprehensible” that the Government was sitting on a solution while the list of victims grew.

“They are just consigning more and more people to the scrap heap as every day goes by,” Mr Gray said.

“It’s awful when you sit around the mediation table and you look in to the eyes of people who have unwittingly become victims of this. It’s pretty depressing.”

The “body count” of homeowners was growing alongside builders and architects – many of whom were not deserving of the agony, he said.

Building and Construction Minister Maurice Williamson has been involved in tense negotiations since August with the six mayors, searching for an agreement.

They are trying to agree on how to pay an estimated $11.5 billion bill to repair the thousands of Kiwi homes rotting from water that has leaked into poorly designed or built homes.

Mr Banks said the latest forum ended “in custard”, with Mr Williamson putting the phone down on a tele-conference.

Mr Williamson had been “antagonised” by some of the mayors, Mr Banks said.

“We don’t lecture to the other mayors, we respect them. But I think the time has now arrived where the two of us [he and Ms Prendergast] should pick up the sensitive negotiations.”

The Government has reportedly offered a package to shoulder 10 per cent of the cost of repairing leaky homes.

Their contribution would be through suspensory loans for victims aged over 65 and on limited incomes; interest bill subsidies for those on annual incomes under $76,000; housing assessments and mediation; and a universal loan guarantee scheme to help victims access bank finance.

Mr Banks said he and Ms Prendergast would ask the Government for more. “We’re trying to wring out some more equity. In the meantime, the victims continue to suffer.”

A spokeswoman for Mr Williamson said he was meeting Prime Minister John Key and Finance Minister Bill English regularly.

“A lot of thought and hard work has gone on and it continues,” the spokeswoman said.

Ms Prendergast said it had been impossible to negotiate with a bigger group of mayors because leaks to the media had undermined negotiations.

“We’ve decided to proceed just with a smaller group.”