‘Tenancy problem’

Press, 24 June 1981, Page 1

‘Tenancy problem’

The house in Hurley Street from which 17-year-old Maria Mackay was evicted by the police on Monday night will be demolished, a spokesman for the owner said last evening. - ■'lt is uneconomic to bring the place up to - the City Council's standards and it will be demolished in due course,” he said. An organisation of residents living in the “Avon Loop,” the Te Whanau Trust, had offered to repair the house. A spokesman said that the eviction highlighted a deteriorating tenancy situation in Christchurch. Before Monday night’s.confrontalion the trust had: arranged an inspection of the house by two citv. councillors

t and a City Health Depart--1 ment inspector. 1 "They were going to tell r us, through the owner, what i needed doing and if it was ■ within our means we would have .done it.” said a trustee, ; Mr R. Donald. ' One of the councillors who

inspected the house on June 17, Mr C. E. Manning, said last evening that he thought the house could have been brought up to standard. The house was in a .Neigh bourhood Improvement Are; which was part of a counci programme of incentives foe people to renovate ok. houses. "I think there should be more effort made in such areas to avoid pulling down houses and building own-

your-own flats,” said Mr Manning.

As far as the owner, Avon Motor Lodge, Ltd, was concerned, the matter was closed, said a spokesman. “It is going to be demolished and that is it,” he said.

The Te Whanau Trust sees what has happened at Hurley Street as an example of a deteriorating tenancy situation in the city.

“When the City Council inspects these properties landlords prefer to pull the houses, down rather than repair, them,” said a trust spokesman.

“Overall, this is causing a shortage of rental accommodation in the city.”