Nothing’s changed since crackdown on unruly tenants - Kāinga Ora resident

By RNZ

A Kāinga Ora tenant says from his point of view nothing has changed since a crackdown on unruly tenants.

Earlier this year the Government ordered the housing agency to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and earlier this week announced 14 tenancies had been terminated in the past three months, compared with eight in all of 2023.

But Cheyne Smith described his time in Kāinga Ora homes as a “nightmare”.

“I got my first home in 2015, within a week the abuse started, and from there I’ve been robbed, beaten, heart attacks, you name it.”

He moved from Auckland to Hamilton and thought it would be a fresh start, Smith told Morning Report.

“Then they put alcoholics and druggies beside me, to the point where I was threatened with a knife.”

He said “nothing’s changed” with how Kāinga Ora managed things.

Tenants were told to ring with concerns but were not kept informed about the outcomes and the bad tenants remained, Smith said.

“When I’ve rung up on my neighbour, I’ve then rung KO, they’ve then rung the neighbour and the neighbour’s come over here kicking the heck out of my door.

“I don’t have visitors anymore because they’re terrified to come to my house.”

Smith said most Kāinga Ora tenants were good and the agency’s staff should start taking their concerns more seriously.

Cheyne Smith described his time in Kāinga Ora homes as a "nightmare". Photo / Supplied via RNZ

In a statement, Kāinga Ora regional director Waikato Mark Rawson said they were aware of tension between Smith and a neighbouring tenant, which led to them both laying complaints about each other.

Smith recently complained about a rubbish issue and Kāinga Ora spoke to the person involved, Rawson said.

“We’ve also had concerns raised with us about Mr Smith’s behaviour,” he said.

In the past, Kāinga Ora has been unable to verify complaints made by Smith about other tenants after talking to others living in the area, Rawson said.

“Our frontline teams have tried repeatedly to meet with Mr Smith, but he has been mostly unwilling to engage with us however our most recent engagement three weeks ago, was positive and no issues were raised.

“If Mr Smith has evidence to support his claims, we would encourage him to get in touch with us so that we can look into what has been happening and respond appropriately.”

Rawson said if Kāinga Ora was able to establish disruptive behaviour was occurring it would take action and make it clear to those involved that their behaviour was unacceptable and their tenancy was at risk.

Smith has spoken to RNZ previously about his doubts the policy edict would change much.

At the time, Kāinga Ora general manager Nick Maling said it welcomed the direction provided by the Government.

“We already have work underway to make changes to our approach to addressing disruptive behaviour and rent arrears. As part of this, we will make ending the Sustaining Tenancies Framework a priority.

“We don’t expect anyone to put up with awful situations, which is why we use the tools available to us under the RTA [Residential Tenancies Act] to address this when it occurs.”

Housing Minister Chris Bishop said he expected there would need to be an increase in the number of unruly tenants evicted before the message started to get through that such behaviour would not be accepted.

“For far too long, a small number of Kāinga Ora tenants have ridden roughshod over their neighbours because, under Kāinga Ora’s previous Sustaining Tenancies Framework, people knew there were no consequences for their threatening, abusive or damaging behaviour,” he said.