Claims Christchurch could be steering down the barrel of another leaky homes crisis.

The city's mayor wants the public to be wary of properties which sell for "as is, where is".

Lianne Dalziel says some home owners are cash-settling with their insurer, before taking off with the money and leaving the buyer with the repair bill.

"I don't want to be alarmist, people know I'm not that sort of person, but this could be the leaky building crisis of 20-30 years time."

Dalziel says a database is needed, so a record can be kept on whether repairs are done for cash-settlement deals.