Kāinga Ora has never applied to cancel a tenancy on the grounds of bad behaviour despite promising to do so earlier this year, National’s Housing spokesperson Chris Bishop says.

“Kāinga Ora has continued its entirely apathetic approach regarding the neighbours of their unruly and antisocial tenants.

“My inbox is flooded with stories from Kiwis living in fear of their neighbours, but Kāinga Ora still refuses to take action.

“After being forced to change its policy for dealing with bad tenants in 2022, new information has revealed that Kāinga Ora has still never applied to the Tenancy Tribunal to cancel a tenancy, no matter how bad the behaviour of its tenants has been.

“It has also been revealed that Kāinga Ora has never given a tenant three notices for antisocial behaviour within the same 90-day period, and only twice have tenants been given two notices for antisocial behaviour.

“Kāinga Ora changed its policy to try and convince New Zealanders they were listening, but residents around the country tell me that Kāinga Ora staff go out of their way to avoid dealing with problem tenants. Yet again, Labour is all spin and no delivery.

“The state house waiting list is at a record high with more than 27,000 people desperate for affordable housing. It is disgraceful that Kāinga Ora seems content to let antisocial tenants who have a state house continue to frustrate, annoy and, in some cases, terrorise their neighbours.

“The Government needs to make its expectations of Kāinga Ora clear and tell them to be a diligent landlord and start using the powers available to it under the Residential Tenancies Act. Law-abiding New Zealanders expect it – as do the 27,000 people on the state housing waitlist.”

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