Wellington, May 24 NZPA - There has been a spike in claims and inquiries for leaky home repairs since a new subsidy package was offered by the Government last week, Prime Minister John Key says.

The Government announced last Monday it had increased its offer of what to contribute to leaky homes victims seeking repair costs.

The new package involved local authorities and the Government each paying 25 percent of the cost of repairs, with homeowners meeting the other 50 percent.

If homeowners committed to the deal it eliminated their ability to sue their council for ticking off faulty work, but they could continue to sue builders, architects, developers and others involved in the building of leaky homes.

The package would apply to leaky homes notified to the Department of Building and Housing within 10 years of being finished.

Mr Key said the department had received 15 new claims since last week's announcement -- the same number as there were in April.

Inquiries from owners of large apartment blocks had also come in just days before their 10-year expiry date was up.

"That's great because we are encouraging owners of leaky homes to lodge weather-tight claims as soon as possible so they can stop the clock on the 10-year liability limit..."

Mr Key said there were also 140 inquiries from existing claimants about the financial assistance package.

"The Government is waiting for responses from local authorities so we can finalise transitional arrangements for existing claimants and deal with operational detail," he said.

Councils were expected to consider the Government's proposal over the next week or so, but indications were that there was "solid support" for it, Mr Key said.

Auckland City Council said last week it was well prepared to fund its 25 percent proposed share of fixing leaky homes with a contingency fund of about $200 million, and more to come over the next decade.

Officials have estimated the cost of fixing 42,000 homes throughout the country at $11.3 billion.