Sophie Mubvumbi Jayawardene

PHOTO: RICKY WILSON/HOMED Sophie Mubvumbi-Jayawardene is moving out of her leaky Mt Roskill home after selling at a discount, and wants readers to understand the human story behind the scenes.

Sophie Mubvumbi Jayawardene is an incredibly proud woman.

Even though she is embattled by challenges that would defeat most of us, she gets up in the morning, puts on a bright face and prepares to give her best. 

But inside, her heart is breaking, as she packs to leave the Mt Roskill house that has meant so much to her over the past 23 years. And she’s leaving because she has failed to get any compensation for the horrendous construction job done on her extension, which makes up the bulk of the house.

The shoddy materials and construction meant the main part of the house, built in 2002, was never given a Code Compliance Certificate, and it quickly became a leaky home. Jayawardene has tried and failed to sue the council, and exhausted all other avenues (including the builder who is now deceased), and finances, in her efforts to put right a mess not of her own making.

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