Partying neighbours push family to their limits

A Housing New Zealand residence in Whangarei is angering neighbours with constant partying.

Concerns about tenants in a new Housing New Zealand home are causing a neighbouring Whangarei family to move out of a house they've owned for 12 years.

The owners of the Kensington house sold their back section to a building company which in turn built the four bedroom HNZ house this year. They said they were unaware when the sale went through that the section would be used for social housing.

However, they had no concerns about it when they found out and expected a family to live there. But since a female tenant and her child moved in in October, neighbours have witnessed 24-hour parties, loud and abusive behaviour, fighting and young children playing unsupervised on the shared-access driveway.

The owners say they no longer feel safe and do not want their children exposed to some of the behaviour from the neighbouring house. They have asked not to be named, to protect their family and their neighbours' privacy.

"These new neighbours are now negatively impacting on the lives of many families in our neighbourhood. This is totally unacceptable," the home owner said in a letter to Housing NZ's property manager.

"The people in our neighbourhood are good families who know each other, look out for each other and do not deserve to be treated with this utter contempt and disrespect by (the HNZ tenants)."

The neighbours were told by HNZ that as an outcome of their complaint the tenant would be served a breach notice for disturbing their peace. However, HNZ cannot comment on a particular tenant or complaint without that tenant signing a waiver.

"We do not accept anti-social behaviour and will always act on a complaint from neighbours and their communities. Resolution of some issues can take time, as we often deal with complex issues that require time to resolve," Acting Area Manager Noeline Tua said.

"If behavioural issues cannot be resolved, we will consider terminating a tenancy. We have zero-tolerance for certain, specific behaviours such as drug use."