The tenant has lived in the property since 2016, with two young children. Tenancy tribunal adjudicator Nicole Walker said the condition of the property was such that “those children are living in a dangerous, unhealthy home.” The cold and draughty nature of the property caused the tenant severe health problems. The court documents showed the tenant was diagnosed with pneumonia and needed to use a nebulizer most days.
Liz McDonald/Stuff Prior to living in this tenancy the tenant had no such health condition. At the hearing a representative of Shore Realty claimed it had no idea about the condition of the property as the “previous landlord had not mentioned it”.
The tenant told the tribunal she began lodging complaints about conditions at the property in 2017, but while some repairs were carried out that year, the majority of the issues went unfixed. In 2018, the tenant complained about holes in the floor in the living room, kitchen, dining room, laundry and hallway. She said she and her two young children – a toddler and a newborn baby – were unable to use many areas of the house as a result, including the laundry, a shower and one of the bedrooms. A second shower could only be used by using a bucket to catch the water and emptying it outside.