LETTERS Some landlords hastily using their legal window

• Published date: 18 January 2021

Some landlords are using the time before the change of law to terminate tenancy contracts, in order to replace tenants with the landlord’s friends and also to increase rents to exorbitant prices. Some small two-bedroom units are being re-rented at anything between $400 and $500 a week. Some people are advertising caravans at over $300 a week. Given that government superannuation is just over $400 a week, many elderly people are now having to choose between having a roof over their heads or buying food and clothing. The situation is equally stressful for families and young people on the minimum wage.

A community in Havelock North has recently used this “window” before the law change, to give notice to a vulnerable, epileptic man of 67. He has nowhere to go. His case is one of many. The whole of society suffers when a large segment of it does not have a basic human right — affordable housing and assured long-term tenure of a home.

Let 2021 be a year when New Zealanders show compassion and generosity to their fellow citizens.

(abridged)

Brenda Armstrong

Havelock North

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