Unruly Kāinga Ora tenants can expect a harder approach to evictions due to antisocial behaviour or being behind in rent, the Government says.
The Government has directed Kāinga Ora to "strengthen" its approach to "terminations" for anti-social and disruptive social housing tenants, as well as those in rental arrears.
The directive has come in the form of a letter of expectation to the state housing agency's board from Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Finance Minister Nicola Willis, sent today. The letter lays out the core functions the responsible ministers expect the agency to focus on.
Housing Minister Chris Bishop said Kāinga Ora had been instructed to end the "Sustaining Tenancies Framework" and take stronger measures against persistent anti-social behaviour by tenants.
The core functions were, according to Bishop:
- Strengthening the management of disruptive tenants
- Addressing a concerning escalation in rental arrears
- Tenanting vacant properties as quickly as possible
- Delivering new social housing places in line with targets
- Delivering value for money in its spending and delivering savings as required
Bishop said the Sustaining Tenancies Framework had "allowed tenants to stay living in a Kāinga Ora home no matter how threatening or disruptive their behaviour, or how much damage they cause to the property".
He said that meant there was no incentive for tenants to improve poor behaviour or "stop deliberately damaging their taxpayer-owned house".
"There are hundreds of serious complaints every month. The most recent statistic has been 335 serious complaints per month."
He said those complaints included "things like intimidation, harassment, threatening behaviour and worse".
“And yet, in all of 2023 only three tenancies ended due to ‘disruptive behaviour’.
“New Zealanders are sick of hearing about terrifying and heartbreaking stories from neighbours of abusive and antisocial Kāinga Ora tenants. It’s completely unacceptable that people should have to live in fear."
He said neighbours of Kāinga Ora residents, who were often Kāinga Ora residents themselves, were "tired of having to put up with Kāinga Ora tenants who abuse the privilege of a taxpayer-funded home".
“At a time when there are over 25,000 people on the social housing wait list, Kāinga Ora should not be prioritising tenants who abuse their home or their neighbours above families who are anxiously waiting for a home."
Bishop said the framework change would not have any impact on the majority of Kāinga Ora tenants who already did the right thing, and removing it gave effect to a commitment made in the National-ACT coalition agreement: "Remove the Kāinga Ora Sustaining Tenancies Framework and ensure appropriate consequences for tenants who engage in repeated antisocial behaviour."
At his regular post-Cabinet press conference today, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said social housing was an important part of the social safety net in New Zealand, but some people abused the privilege.
He said that wasn’t fair to those who felt “fear” due to some of those tenants nor other people on the social housing waitlist.
He said the vast majority of tenants did the right thing but “from now on, there will be consequences” for people who defied rules and obligations.
Asked how many people may become homeless as a result of the policy, Luxon said the change was about “fairness”.
“We’re not there to accommodate people who do not hold up their end of the deal.”
Rental arrears should also be a focus - Bishop
He said the Government also expected Kāinga Ora to focus on rental arrears accrued by tenants.
Between 2017 and 2023, the total debt owed to Kāinga Ora by its tenants increased from $1 million to $21m, he said, and the number of tenants owing rent nearly doubled from 4248 to 9519.
At the end of last year, more than 450 Kāinga Ora tenants each owed more than $10,000 in rent, Bishop said.
“Frankly, this isn’t in anyone’s best interests – not taxpayers, and not the tenants themselves – so Kāinga Ora needs to address the current rental arrears issues and prevent future arrears from escalating."
He said the Government was concerned about the loss of "social license" for social housing among the public and its communities, "often because communities feel that social housing developments happen without genuine engagement".
"Kāinga Ora has therefore been instructed to do more to genuinely engage with local communities about their development plans and activities, beyond their existing legal requirements."
In December, Bishop announced an independent review into Kāinga Ora, saying he was "deeply concerned" about the organisation's operating deficit.
He said the letter was an interim letter of expectation which would be updated later this year in response to the independent review, which is due at the end of March.
The National Party signalled a harder line on evicting anti-social and unruly Kāinga Ora tenants during the election campaign.
Kāinga Ora said tenants had complained for months about the behaviour of a person involved in a fatal attack at a Mt Albert social housing unit in February.
The agency said it had received complaints about the tenant from neighbours since December last year, and it had contacted the person, their family, police and health services to provide assistance. It had also issued a notice under the Residential Tenancies Act warning the person their behaviour was putting the tenancy at risk.
Last week in Rotorua, local Kāinga Ora leaders told Rotorua Lakes district councillors there was "no robust evidence" Kāinga Ora activities impacted house prices nearby.
One councillor disagreed, saying the leaders could speak to local real estate agents and rental agencies to talk them "through the evidence", as relayed by Local Democracy Reporting.
A controversial Kāinga Ora housing development in Auckland's Millwater, which would deliver 37 homes, has also been scrapped, with the agency saying it is not financially viable. The development had received complaints and a petition against it.
A resource consent for a Gore Kāinga Ora development that would provide 24 homes was also on hold while the agency considered feedback from locals.
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