Call for clarity over grounds for eviction

New Zealand’s biggest landlord, Housing New Zealand hopes to establish consistency and greater clarity for landlords on what grounds they can evict their tenants.

Friday, August 29th 2008, 12:33PM

by The Landlord

This comes in response to a case that made headlines in July last year when Housing New Zealand was refused permission to have the Salt family evicted from a property at 39 Rangeview Rd in Mt Albert, Auckland. Neighbours told the tribunal the family had stopped cars, assaulted residents and visitors, and made life in the street unbearable.

Housing New Zealand says the tribunal’s decision to refuse the termination order has shifted the balance between tenant and neighbour rights in favour of the tenants.

Kathryn Sullivan, senior communications adviser for Housing New Zealand in Auckland said Housing New Zealand wants to clarify exactly what evidence a landlord needs in order to terminate a tenancy around neighbourhood disturbance.

A lot of evidence was supplied in the case and Housing New Zealand believes the way it was interpreted by the tribunal was wrong. They want to know if the rules have changed.

“We believe, in this case, the Tenancy Tribunal got it wrong and we are challenging that. As a landlord with over 67,000 houses, we don’t want this to be a precedent. We don’t want this particular decision to have wide a ranging impact on the community in general. We have an obligation to some 200,000 New Zealanders who live in state houses and also to the community they live in, to ensure the law is clear around tenants’ and neighbours’ rights.”

"We need to know whether public and private landlords must now meet a higher threshold of evidence proving a tenant's antisocial behaviour before a tenancy termination can be secured," Auckland Operations Director Celia Patrick said.

Auckland’s District Court will make its decision whether to rehear the case against the tenant next Friday, on September 5.

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