A south Auckland tenant has been awarded $30,000 from the tenancy tribunal after his family spent three years living in a sleepout with no insulation or sufficient ventilation.
Xxx and his family had rented the property on Takanini School Rd from Zzz Ltd.

Xxx told the Tenancy Tribunal he wanted a full refund of rent because the property he was living in had been “unlawful”.

aklreels - 2021-01-25 07:01:00

Ridiculous decision.
They made a contract.

masturbidder - 2021-01-25 09:21:00

if the landlord had installed other features in the house that he forgot to include in the rent would that then enable him to charge the tenant extra after 3 years of renting, ummmm, no, but that's the other side of the penny aye.

snork28 - 2021-01-25 10:02:00

masturbidder wrote:

Ridiculous-
decision.
They made a contract.

Which the landlord breached from day one. Guilty. Good decision.

sparkychap - 2021-01-25 10:22:00

masturbidder wrote:

Ridiculous-
decision.
They made a contract.

You can't contract outside the law.

pasadena1 - 2021-01-25 10:23:00

masturbidder wrote:

Ridiculous-
decision.
They made a contract.

That's irrelevant. You cannot contract out of law. Viagogo tried that on and were made to look like idiots.

committed - 2021-01-25 12:08:00

sparkychap wrote:

Which the landlord breached from day one. Guilty. Good decision.

Tenants were not aware of that for 3 years? Credible or not?

amasser - 2021-01-25 19:20:00

amasser wrote:

Tenants were not aware of that for 3 years? Credible or not?

If someone rents you a place, you kinda assume it's consented for that purpose.

The determination doesn't say how this all came about, but I suspect the tenant had been putting up with some of these issues not realising they were unlawful. This often happens with new immigrants who don't know the rules.

It's still no excuse the landlord who is in business and supposed to know better.

sparkychap - 2021-01-25 19:36:00

sparkychap wrote:

It's still no excuse the landlord who is in business and supposed to know better.

This is why there is a shortage of rentals down on the West Coast. Lots of old houses that aren't worth investing money in, so they just sit there, unused.

apollo11 - 2021-01-25 19:39:00

apollo11 wrote:

This is why there is a shortage of rentals down on the West Coast. Lots of old houses that aren't worth investing money in, so they just sit there, unused.

This wasn't even consented as a house though.

sparkychap - 2021-01-25 19:43:00

In other news, Zzz Ltd is receivership with no funds for unsecured creditors.

tony9 - 2021-01-25 19:48:00

sparkychap wrote:

This wasn't even consented as a house though.

Yeah I've seen this happen before. There are a lot of houses out there sitting empty because they can't legally be rented without money being spent.

apollo11 - 2021-01-25 19:53:00

apollo11 wrote:

Yeah I've seen this happen before. There are a lot of houses out there sitting empty because they can't legally be rented without money being spent.

If it's not consented, is it even a house?

sparkychap - 2021-01-25 20:00:00

sparkychap wrote:

If it's not consented, is it even a house?

The poor tenant suffered living in a non-house for three years. Or the landlord upset them in some way and they saw a way of making some dosh. Landlord has been given an expensive lesson on crossing i's and dotting t's.

apollo11 - 2021-01-25 21:25:00

Yep and quite right too.

sparkychap - 2021-01-25 21:26:00

My best guess, A dodgy Tenant that could only get a dodgy *Rental* and then someone who knew the law and probably has a free (on a benefit themselves) career in saving people from themselves explained their rights providing all the paperwork and the pathway to compensation.
A lesson to Dodgy rental landlords.

heather902 - 2021-01-25 22:20:00

This message was deleted.

mals69 - 2021-01-26 08:03:00

https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/renting/124040098/t
enant-awarded-30k-after-living-with-his-family-in-uninsulate
d-sleepout

You have to wonder why they 'put up with' this for 3yrs! Maybe it was the paying below market rent ($210-220).

rhys12 - 2021-01-27 04:25:00

I'm a bit torn on this one. intellectually I agree with a standard of housing that needs to be adhered to for health and safety, and just basic human decency.
However, from my days as a poor 20 year old working minimum wage jobs and struggling with housing costs in Auckland - I would have loved the opportunity to pay way below market rent for a dive. And I kind of don't like how that decision is taken away now - I can still make that decision if I choose to buy - just not if I rent.

huggy5 - 2021-01-27 07:49:00

The member deleted this message.

mals69 - 2021-01-27 08:02:00

Totally agree huggy5. I have a friend who for many years slept in sleepouts for well under market rent for the area, but would not have complied with todays rental standards. There are many, particularly single/lower income, people that are going to be left high and dry with people not being able to rent out sleepouts or houses that don't fully comply. Will just mean more empty houses and more people requiring Govt assistance to find them suitable housing.

rhys12 - 2021-01-27 08:02:00

mals69 wrote:

If the landlord was charging peanuts shame on the tenant, if the landlord was charging the earth shame on the landlord.

$30,000 over 3 years is under $200 a week,.

It should be seen as the Tenants choice to live there and the landlord simply fined for simply renting it out with nothing , or only, say, 6 months rent going back to the Tenant.
People live under bridges and in cars & it's their choice if they want to upgrade and pay a token amount to live somewhere else in better conditions.

marte - 2021-01-27 10:39:00

This message was deleted.

mals69 - 2021-01-27 15:52:00

So basically, the tenant has had THREE years free accommodation..?

wingpoint - 2021-01-31 15:28:00

mals69 wrote:

Yeah no one has a gun put to their head to rent a place.

Not a gun. The alternative was probably a car.

sw20 - 2021-01-31 16:34:00

The end result - no more places to rent for $200pw.
Pay $800pw instead for a certified "healthy home".
But only if you can pass the vetting process.

Rents going up even more. Yay! Let's keep moving...

pcle - 2021-02-01 10:18:00

Hopefully they use the money to secure proper accommodation for themselves - like as a deposit on a house.

cameron-albany - 2021-02-01 14:15:00

pcle wrote:

The end result - no more places to rent for $200pw.
Pay $800pw instead for a certified "healthy home".
But only if you can pass the vetting process.

Rents going up even more. Yay! Let's keep moving...

I think the immediate result will be landlord's with substandard housing, either leaving them empty knowing that the price rises will keep it economic.
Or selling it off to a home buyer who now lives in their own substandard house ( horray!! A 'Home owner' !) But can't afford to fix it up.
And the house seller as a landlord, using that $$ as a deposit on several more, possibly new builds, rental propertys.

With a grey area where substandard houses will be knocked down a 6-8 units built on one property.

marte - 2021-02-01 14:39:00

$192.31 per week rent over the three year period.
Where anywhere are they going to get a place to live for that amount of money?

kazbanz - 2021-02-01 15:45:00

cameron-albany wrote:

Hopefull-
y they use the money to secure proper accommodation for themselves - like as a deposit on a house.

They would have to move to Invercargill or Wanganui first.

sw20 - 2021-02-01 16:54:00

sw20 wrote:

They would have to move to Invercargill or Wanganui first.

Yes true although I was thinking along the lines of using it to bolster existing kiwisaver deposit or something. But I guess given the situation they've obviously been in, they're highly unlikely to have any savings. Bit dismal really.

cameron-albany - 2021-02-01 20:39:00

cameron-albany wrote:

Hopefull-
y they use the money to secure proper accommodation for themselves - like as a deposit on a house.

Yeah - why use the accommodation supplement to support a profiteering landlord, when it can be used to get onto the property ladder.

brouser3 - 2021-02-04 21:47:00