The Government must urgently direct Kainga Ora to drop its state house eviction ban which breaches its obligations as a landlord and is resulting in the victimisation of innocent neighbours, National’s spokesperson for Housing and Urban Development Nicola Willis says.
Despite Minister Williams’ misleading denials, documents I have obtained reveal Kainga Ora has a specific policy that prevents it from terminating tenancies – even when those tenants are making their neighbours lives a living hell.
The Minister must stop the ridiculous denials and take responsibility for this failed policy and the horrific consequences it has had. She must direct that Kainga Ora end the eviction ban.
The no-evictions approach has got so out of control that state landlord Kainga Ora has been judged on multiple occasions1 by the Tenancy Tribunal to have breached its obligations to “take all reasonable steps to ensure that none of the landlord’s other tenants causes or permits any interference with the reasonable peace, comfort or privacy”.2
In arguing these cases Kainga Ora has told the Tenancy Tribunal that its “policy was not to issue 90-day notices, nor terminate tenancies” 3 and the Tribunal has held that Kainga Ora has “purposefully chosen a policy of seeking to preserve and not terminate tenancies”4
The tribunal highlighted the perversity of this policy stating “Kainga Ora policy cannot over-ride the provisions of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 (RTA). This is clearly a situation that cannot continue.”5
The cases documented at the Tenancy Tribunal are awful, but they are just the tip of the iceberg. In recent days I have been inundated with stories from New Zealanders who have been on the receiving end of campaigns of intimidation and fear from Kainga Ora tenants who fear no consequences for their actions.
There must be consequences for people who abuse their state tenancy and use it as a platform for victimising others in such a revolting way. Eviction should be a last resort but it must be a tool in the tool box.
The Minister for Public Housing, Poto Williams, must quit her pattern of denial and end the state house eviction ban.
FOOTNOTES
1 Davies v Kainga Ora-Homes and Communities [2020], Sharandov v Kainga Ora-Homes and Communities [2020], Y v Kainga Ora-Homes and Communities [2021], C v Kainga Ora-Homes and Communities [2020] (unpublished), [Name Suppressed] v Kainga Ora-Homes and Communities [2021]
2 Section 45(1)(e) of the Residential Tenancies Act 1956
3 [8] Davis; [11] Sharandov
4 [34] Y
5 [9] Davis; [12] Sharandov
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