Ministers are pleased to see Kāinga Ora taking a stronger approach to managing unruly, threatening or abusive tenants, Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka say.

“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,” says Bishop.

“In March this year Ministers said enough was enough. We formally instructed Kāinga Ora to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework, and to strengthen their management of disruptive tenants.

“Three months on, it is encouraging to see some green shoots of change beginning to emerge.

"For example, in the past three months 14 Kāinga Ora tenancies have been terminated due to disruptive behaviour or persistent rent arrears."

Bishop says Kāinga Ora also has an additional 25 applications to end tenancies for these reasons awaiting decisions by the Tenancy Tribunal.

"This is compared to only eight tenancies terminated for disruptive behaviour or rent arrears the whole of 2023," says Bishop.

“We’ve also seen an increase in Section 55A formal warning notices issued to tenants for disruptive behaviour, with 80 issued in the past three months compared to 13 for the same period last year.”

Potaka says Kāinga Ora has recently published its redeveloped Tenancy Management Framework which formalises their newly strengthened approach to managing disruptive tenants.

"The new framework takes a stronger approach to ensuring the right balance is struck between Kāinga Ora’s responsibilities as a landlord, the responsibilities of tenants, and the rights of the surrounding community to the quiet enjoyment of their homes," says Potaka.

“Part of this new framework is a Disruptive Behaviour Policy which allows faster tenancy termination for two types of incidents.

"Firstly, where behaviour in a Kāinga Ora house creates a significant safety issue for others, and secondly where behaviour in a Kāinga Ora house is disruptive and persistent, and warnings from Kāinga Ora staff are ignored.

“At a time when we have around 24,000 whānau on the social housing wait list and more than 2,000 whānau living in emergency housing motels, we will not look the other way when people abuse the privilege of living in social housing," says Potaka.

“The message to Kāinga Ora tenants is clear: if your actions are causing your neighbours to live in fear and misery, your time is up. Change your behaviour now or face the consequences,” says Bishop.