Covid 19 coronavirus: Tenant kicked out of apartment after inviting in 'street mates' during lockdown

A tenant who offered "street mates" a shower and a bed during the lockdown because he felt sorry for them has been kicked out of his central Auckland apartment.

Social housing tenant Nicholas Sinclair admitted the level 4 breaches, saying he felt sorry for his mates on cold, wet nights after living on the streets for 25 years himself.

At a Tenancy Tribunal hearing dated April 22, adjudicator J Greene decided to terminate Sinclair's tenancy to coincide with the end of the lockdown.

Life Apartments on Liverpool St, where the tenant lived. Photo / Google

The bid by landlord Compass Housing Services Co (New Zealand Ltd) to end the tenancy was a "last resort" to protect the health and safety of staff and other tenants.

The apartment building had 73 social housing tenants with 90 tenancies in total - some of the tenants were mothers with babies or young children.

It alleged along with breaching the lockdown, Sinclair had a history of antisocial behaviour which included the assault of a security guard at the apartment.

Sinclair was previously served a 14-day notice for breaching his tenancy agreement and the lockdown rules but still had visits from his mates.

It was also alleged he smoked inside the apartment which was prohibited and was aggressive after drinking alcohol. The antisocial behaviour had been recorded on CCTV camera.

However, the "principal concern" was the breaches of the alert level 4 restrictions, the landlord said.

And while they admitted Sinclair had become quieter following the notice, they were still concerned he would break the rules under alert level 3.

Sinclair "frankly" admitted breaching the lockdown by welcoming friends to his apartment, visiting friends in another apartment, and was "antisocial" towards police when they spoke to him about the breaches. He also told the adjudicator he "had a confrontation" with a security guard.

During the coronavirus response, the Government had put restrictions in regards to the grounds the tribunal could order the termination of a tenancy.

However, it allowed antisocial behaviour to be a ground in which termination could be approved under the Residential Tenancies Act 1986.

The adjudicator decided to terminate Sinclair's tenancy due to the "significant antisocial behaviour with its potentially serious consequences".

"Hopefully, given the current situation, he will be housed somewhere more appropriate," adjudicator J Greene said.

"Visiting persons outside his 'bubble' and repeatedly bringing other persons into his bubble not only breaches the rules but provides a real risk that he might contract Covid-19 and then spread the infection to other tenants and to the landlord's staff.

"Mr Sinclair seemed not to appreciate the seriousness of his behaviour relying on the fact that he knows everyone."