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Dream home renovation turns to nightmare for Samoan family

Photo of unfinished house
Source: 1 News Now

Auckland, NEW ZEALAND — Building your own home is a dream come true for most families – especially when you've saved up and worked hard to afford to do so.

But for one Samoan family, who chose not to reveal their surname, their hopes of dream home renovation has turned to devastation.

In 2017, Lila and her family decided to extend their three-bedroom house. Once they had the finances, they were ready to start planning for the build. While the home was expected to have been completed by now, a skeleton stands in its place.

"There's a lot of questions – where did I go wrong?" homeowner Lila told Tagata Pasifika. "There are times that I don't even wanna come here."

Lila was looking to extend the home in order to accommodate their growing family.

"We've got, you know, grandchildren, we have our nieces and nephews that are over at our place, so we have a very big family that we want to - our home to be welcome for them to stay," she said.

After months of planning, they found an architectural company to do their design and a builder to construct it. Their plans were also approved by the Auckland Council.

However, after two months, the family was told there were issues with the trusses, and construction was halted.

In the meantime, Lila and her family are paying a mortgage on a home that doesn't exist, and are bunking up with family; the strain of the situation causing grief with their children.

Read more at 1 News New