“It’s totally unacceptable that a Kāinga Ora tenant with 25 complaints of anti-social behaviour, six formal warnings, and police callouts has retained their taxpayer-funded tenancy”, says ACT’s Housing spokesperson Cameron Luxton.

“It’s clear that violent behaviour from people receiving a state home is still occurring and that the crackdown on them needs to go further.

“The Tenancy Tribunal has refused to terminate a KO tenancy in Whangarei even after Police confirmed that a ‘non-accidental shooting’ had occurred and that there was ‘a high risk of retaliation and ongoing violence of a similar nature from the parties involved’, and that threats had been made against a neighbour.

“KO urgently sought termination of the tenancy, but the Tribunal found that because the complaints came from anonymous sources and no complainant was willing to give evidence, the application to terminate lacked corroboration.

“ACT policy would ensure the requirement for KO 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 would protect witnesses and tenants in vulnerable situations who may be victims of abuse or intimidation.

“ACT’s coalition agreement committed to removing National and Labour’s damaging ‘Sustaining Tenancies Framework’ which has helped. But we clearly need to go further. In particular, ACT campaigned on:

• Reducing bureaucracy around termination. Sign-off would only be required from the service unit manager, not the Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Executive.

• Specifying 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.

• Clarifying that tenants who are terminated for anti-social behaviour will be moved to the bottom of the public housing and emergency housing waitlists.

• Clarifying 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.

“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.”

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