Landlord let 'uninhabitable' rooms again

Press, 23 January 1988, Page 11

Landlord let 'uninhabitable' rooms again

By

GLEN PERKINSON

A Christchurch landlord who let a flat declared “uninhabitable” may have to pay his tenants $3OOO in damages.

Mr Allen Hill rented a couple a flat in Newnham Terrace, Riccarton, for $l5O a week. The flat was deemed “uninhabitable” by the Tenancy Tribunal last October. The reasons for that decision and a resulting order for Mr Hill to pay the former tenants $lOOO in damages were the same as those which yesterday won the latest tenants refunded rent and the possibility of $3OOO in damages.

In October Mr Hill was building another flat on top of the existing one at Newnham Terrace; there was no roof covering the downstairs accommodation.

Although Mr Hill had

since placed a roof over the construction work there were still no walls and the property leaked continually, said Mr Darren Taylor and Ms Lynette Coels, the new tenants.

Mr Hill did not appear at the Tenancy Tribunal hearing yesterday so only immediate termination of the agreement and refund of rent could be awarded. Another date will be set for the damages claim.

When Mr Taylor and Ms Coels moved in more than a month ago the Municipal Electricity Department refused to connect power because wires and fittings were damp. However, power was connected a week later in spite of an M.E.D. check showing dampness in lighting circuits, faulty lampholders, broken fuses, unsuitable earthing and unsuitable access to the switchboard and meter.

The tenants’ statement to the tribunal said that the entire house was still damp and mouldy, there was much leaking, and little security because of broken windows and unsatisfactory locks. Last October the flat and another next door were drenched during rain. The six students living in the two tenancies had their end-of-year examination study disrupted through the cold, damp conditions.