Protecting the community from unruly tenants

ACT will:

• Remove National and Labour’s damaging ‘sustaining tenancies’ policy.
• Reduce bureaucracy around termination. Sign-off would only be required from the service unit manager, not the Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Executive.
• Specify that a tenancy can be terminated and not simply transferred to a different Kāinga Ora property if the tenant engages in dangerous or severe disruptive behaviour. Such behaviour would include drug production or supply, acts of violence, presentation of weapons, persistent intimidation or malicious harassment, and threatening or intimidating behaviour.
• Clarify that tenants who are terminated for anti-social behaviour will be moved to the bottom of the public housing and emergency housing waitlists.
• Clarify that the requirement for Kāinga Ora to ‘prove’ anti-social behaviour can include testimony from other residents in the neighbourhood. Both parties would have access to a private hearing by the Tenancy Tribunal to give testimony. This will protect witnesses and tenants in vulnerable situations who may be victims of abuse or intimidation.
• Apply section 53B of the Residential Tenancies Act to all forms of tenancy, rather than just periodic tenancies. When a tenancy is determined to be terminated, reduce required notice for tenants from 90 days to 21 days.
• Require Kāinga Ora to engage with Police if they are made aware of illegal activity.
• Introduce a duty for Kāinga Ora to process and consider all public complaints, and to inform complainants of its decision.

These tenants would not simply be moved on to another Kāinga Ora tenancy. ACT would move them to the bottom of both the public housing and emergency housing waitlists. This will introduce consequences for bad behaviour and provide an incentive for tenants to change their behaviour. And it will give more deserving people on the housing register who have not treated the community with disrespect a chance to be housed.