Mould growing under the carpet in one of the bedrooms.
Photo: Supplied
Renters’ advocates are calling for better protections to stop students and vulnerable people falling prey to what they term ‘slumlords’.
Three flatmates are taking their previous landlord to the Tenancy Tribunal after their flat constantly flooded and was riddled with mould.
It’s added to growing calls for greater accountability and stronger enforcement of the Residential Tenancies Act and Healthy Homes Standards.
When Mia moved into a three-bedroom flat in an affluent suburb of Wellington, she thought paying $250 for a room close to the city centre wasn’t a bad deal.
She and her two flatmates moved into the flat in January last year, lining up with university and starting full-time work.
But as winter rolled around in June, they started to get sick constantly, which Mia said was out of the ordinary.
Moisture reading in one of the bedrooms.
Photo: Supplied
“I moved [my] furniture out of the way and realised that underneath the carpet was covered in water and mould.
“It was that point I also realised it was under my bed too, so it had been coming in for I don’t know how long.”
Mia said when they first moved into the flat, their landlord told them it was up to scratch with the Healthy Homes Standards.
But until they read the fine print, they realised their flat’s compliance statement was over five years old.
“There was vinyl on the kitchen [floor] and we noticed that the wooden floor underneath was kind of rickety when you stood on it, it almost warped.”
“So, I was trying to tell the landlord, I think there is water under here in the wood and she was pretty much saying it was fine, it’s not a big issue, don’t worry about it.
“[But] I walked over it one morning and my foot went through the floor. It went through the vinyl, then through the wood and into the underneath of the house.”
The hole made in the kitchen floor after the wood underneath rotted.
Photo: Supplied
Mia said after complaining to their landlord, some issues were temporarily fixed within the month.
But after they brought up bigger issues, such as water coming through the walls in the kitchen and their bedrooms, their landlord stopped responding to calls and emails.
The three flatmates left the flat in December, but their lease didn’t end until January.
Mia said they are taking their landlord, who owns multiple properties, to the Tenancy Tribunal to try and get some of their rent refunded.
“It’s just how Wellington flats are at the moment unfortunately, but thankfully, I think we’ve found a pretty decent place for now.”
Mia said finding a new flat took time, with the flatmates looking over around 50 listings and visiting 10 flats.
“In so many flats the windows weren’t sealing, there was mould everywhere, you would walk in and you could smell the damp.”
Mould growing on the carpet after water leaked through the walls.
Photo: Supplied
Stories like Mia’s are becoming all too familiar for Renters United president Luke Somervell.
“This keeps happening and nothing is really changing. These types of landlords, they prey on students and new people coming to Wellington who aren’t aware of their rights.
“They’re just fleecing them of their rent, their accommodation supplement and not measuring up to standard.”
Somervell said there needs to be better enforcement to make sure there’s transparency and accountability between landlords and renters.
“A landlord could be taken to the Tenancy Tribunal every other week, but if you don’t know what’s going on and there’s no attempt to actually clamp down on this repeated behaviour.
“$2000 sure, that’s a lot of money, but if you’re a landlord that owns multiple properties, it’s probably cheaper to get the fine than to actually upgrade your house.”
Mould growing on the carpet after water leaked through the walls.
Photo: Supplied
Lucy Telfer-Barnard, a professor from the University of Otago’s Public Health department, said other than the property owner, there doesn’t have to be anyone else checking the property before it is rented out.
She said a compulsory pre-inspection would make sure rental properties met the Healthy Homes Standards and the maintenance requirements in the Residential Tenancies Act.
“The key problem is that landlords are allowed to rent properties out, without having checked them to make sure they’re fit for habitation.
“There needs to be some check on properties before they are rented because tenants going around looking might not know what to look for, or they may not be in a position to refuse something that shouldn’t be rented.”
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment said from 1 July last year to 31 March this year, the number of applications made to the Tenancy Tribunal was 1308, an increase of almost six percent.
The average timeframe for Tenancy Tribunal hearings in March was over 50 days from date of the application submission to date of the hearing.
Failure to meet the Healthy Homes Standards could see landlords who own six or more rental properties hit with a $50,000 fine.
Smaller-scale landlords could face fines of up to $7200.
Checkpoint reached out to the landlord in this story; they declined to comment.
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