New approach to tenancy management
14 July 2024
Kāinga Ora has developed and implemented a new approach to managing its tenancies and strengthened its response to disruptive behaviour.
Our frontline teams are making earlier and more frequent use of the tools available under the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA).
Between March and May, there has been a six-fold increase in warning notices issued compared to the same period last year, and twice the number of forced relocations have occurred to resolve tenancy issues.
There have also been significantly more applications for tenancy terminations. In the past three months we have ended 14 tenancies for either disruptive behaviour or rental debt.
Alongside this, we are now introducing a new Tenancy Management Framework that will strike a better balance between our responsibilities as a landlord, the responsibilities of tenants, and the quiet enjoyment of others in the community. This will inform our approach to a range of tenancy issues, including rental arrears, disruptive behaviour and the management of pets. Our approach is about being firm but fair.
To drive further progress, we are rolling out a new Disruptive Behaviour policy to formalise our new approach and guide how our frontline teams respond to disruptive behaviour.
We will still work to understand what’s driving behaviour and refer tenants to specialist social and health services to address underlying issues. We will continue to use notices and relocation to prompt behaviour change.
However, we are also introducing an escalated approach in two situations: where a tenant’s behaviour creates a significant safety issue; or where behaviour is disruptive and persistent, and a household ignores our warnings. In these situations, we will apply to the Tenancy Tribunal to terminate the tenancy – and we will not provide the tenant with another home.
Ultimately, this new approach is designed to provide a clear deterrent for disruptive behaviour and spark behaviour change.
Since 1 July we have been rolling out guidance and training to our frontline teams to support them to act quickly when responding to disruptive behaviour. We are also working to ensure our tenants are aware of the changes and what they mean for how we manage tenancies.
These changes are focused on addressing serious disruptive behaviour. Many of the issues people get in touch with us about are minor things that are common issues between neighbours throughout the country, like noisy cars, lawns not being mowed regularly or how often visitors are calling at a home. We will continue to address these types of concerns through our existing processes.
It is important to stress the approach that we are taking will not have any impact on the majority of Kāinga Ora tenants who already do the right thing, are responsible tenants, and treat their neighbours with respect.
We will regularly publish performance data around how we are responding to disruptive behaviour on our website - this will begin in late-July.
Attributed to Nick Maling, General Manager of National Services
Note: updated 17 July 2024 to clarify time periods.
FAQs
The new policy is about using the tools available under the Residential Tenancies Act to address serious disruptive behaviour sooner and more frequently. It also sets clear thresholds for when we will end tenancies and not rehouse tenants.
We’re committed to being a good landlord. Part of this means getting the right balance between our responsibilities to our tenants – some of whom experience a range of challenges – and ensuring the quiet enjoyment of others in the community. Our new approach is designed to strike this balance.
We will do this:
- When we have taken reasonable steps to address the issue but the tenant refuses to engage or meet their obligations under the Residential Tenancies Act.
- When their behaviour is putting the safety of others at risk.
We will still end the tenancy and not offer the tenant another Kāinga Ora home when we need to. However, if we identify a vulnerability factor for a tenant or their household, we will refer them to an appropriate housing provider who may be able to help them with their housing needs.
We can use Section 53B of the RTA to end a tenancy and move the tenant to another Kāinga Ora home. Most tenants take moving to a new home as an opportunity for a fresh start and do not cause further issues. In the 2023/24 financial year we did this ten times.
We can make it clear to tenants that their behaviour is unacceptable, and their tenancy is at risk by issuing a Section 55A notice under the RTA. If a tenant receives three Section 55A notices within a 90-day period, then we will apply to the Tenancy Tribunal to end their tenancy. In the 2023/24 financial year we issued 202 Section 55A notices.
In severe, threatening or persistent cases, we will seek termination at the Tribunal and not provide the tenant with another Kainga Ora home. We ended twelve tenancies in this way due to disruptive behaviour in the 2023/24 financial year.
These changes are focused on addressing serious disruptive behaviour. Serious disruptive behaviour includes behaviour that is persistent, aggressive, threatening or intimidating to neighbours, other tenants, or Kāinga Ora staff.
Most of the issues people get in touch with us about are minor things that are common issues between neighbours throughout the country, like noisy cars, lawns not being mowed regularly or how often visitors are calling at a home. We will continue to address these types of concerns through our existing processes.
No. Alongside this new approach, we’ll continue supporting our tenants and their households to be well connected to their communities and to lead lives with dignity and the greatest degree of independence possible. We work to understand what is causing disruptive behaviour and if a tenant has needs that require additional support from other agencies to resolve, we refer them to specialist support services to address underlying issues wherever possible, if they give us consent.
We’re introducing new performance measures to help speed up response times, enhance visibility and monitor how we are going. We will begin proactively sharing key data from late-July, with these new performance measures being added later this year.
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Page updated: 14 July 2024