Open season on renters begins with no-cause evictions – Green Party
The Green Party says that with no-cause evictions returning from today, the move to allow landlords to end tenancies without reason plunges renters, and particularly families who rent, into insecurity and stress.
“Open season on renters has begun, as this Government for landlords creates more insecurity and pain for renters,” says the Green Party’s Housing spokesperson Tamatha Paul.
“No-cause evictions mean that renters can be removed from their homes without reason, undermining housing stability and perpetuating insecurity. It’s another cruel step which favours landlords and erodes renters’ rights in Aotearoa. There will be many families who will suffer acutely as a result of the uncertainty this creates.
“No-cause evictions have flow-on impacts for children of families who are plunged into housing instability – it undermines their health and education, and compounds mental health problems linked to inadequate housing and unhealthy homes.
“Landlords will be able to kick out renters on a whim – it may be because of the renter’s disability or even the way they dress – but the landlord doesn’t have to provide a reason, it’s open season.
“Housing is a human right, but this Government is treating it like a business. Housing forms the foundation for our communities to thrive, it is something we can afford to provide to everyone.
“The Government has ignored the overwhelming public opposition to this Bill. A massive 97 per cent of submitters on the no clause termination provision opposed it, including 53 per cent of landlords themselves.
“Everyone deserves a safe and secure place to call home. The Green Party will continue to fight for stronger renters rights, and that includes removing no-cause evictions,” says Tamatha Paul.
However not ALL renters are blameless.
Some state renters still don’t know how lucky they are to be housed and continue to rort the system and create havoc in the neighbourhoods on which they have been inflicted.
In this example, they have been placed very close to good bus routes so as to be able to get to jobs, I guess.
They don’t have jobs and have no intention of getting them. Why do they need the bus route?
If they are in a unit with a shared drive, they and their mental-health-challenged hangers-on ‘own’ the drive and all the extra parking.
If you question that you become THE ENEMY and can be threatened verbally with rape and murder. If you complain about that to police, you become a target.
If you install a security camera (on the advice of the property manager of that property) you have film of all sorts of unpleasant behaviour. It doesn’t pay to look at it.
There are small children running all over the driveway making it perilous to back into your garage, a practice you started when you realised the turning area is often blocked and you might need to make a quick getaway at some stage.
They have people living in the garage so the actual renter now has 2 more adults living on the premises.
You advise your friends and relations not to visit for fear of upsetting the tenants equilibrium and have them thinking they are being ‘spied on’.
What used to be a quiet little cul de sac of friendly, mainly elderly people, is now walking on eggshells in case they offend the tenants or their hangers on and provoke a tantrum which spills out onto the drive and the street. This includes bashing their own cars with sticks, an implicit threat.
The girlfriends have nowhere to go so they hang around. They turn up with new bruises to exhibit every other week.
There is rubbish scattered around which migrates. They drive over water meters and break them but too stupid to call Watercare. Someone else has to do that.
One hopes the whiff of weed indicates everyone is chilled out of an afternoon. So, there’s money for that and there’s money from sub-letting the garage and what are all those visitors coming and going regularly, here for. They don’t stay long. Side hustles, we should all have one!
It’s got to the point where one is afraid to talk to one’s own cat or pat it while checking the mail, for fear the unruly tenants will know it’s your cat and attempt to harm it.
To react anything is to invite trouble and accusations of racism.
The property manager refuses to answer her phone despite the absolutely glowing testimonials on her website. According to them she’s brilliant but she’s not above calling people racist as well.
Our experience is that she doesn’t care what she’s done, she’s being paid. The owners of the property may have no idea what she’s done but didn’t leave contact details for the neighbours. So perhaps they are party to this as well.
The owners, Kainga Ora/Winz, the property manager are all in dereliction of their duty. The websites of KO and the property manager are full of lies because our lived experience does not bear out their claims.
When are property managers going to come under closer scrutiny? This one has ignored the problems she’s inflicted on the neighbourhood.
The Green Party says this new no faults rule plunges families especially, into un-certainty and stress, but hasn’t considered the position of the neighbours who have been subjected to the uncertainly and stress caused by some of their tenants.
Many neighbours own their own properties, and they have no rights to ‘quiet enjoyment’ of their own properties because of some tenants. ‘Everyone deserves a safe, secure place to call home’. Better remind your tenants of that KO/winz and property managers because some of them don’t know.
The other people in this little street don’t have that pleasure.