KEY POINTS:
A case involving a state-housing tenant subletting the home has been referred to the Crown solicitor, says Housing Minister Chris Carter.
National housing spokesman Phil Heatley revealed the rort in Parliament yesterday, saying the tenant - who owned a beach house in Russell - privately sublet the Mangere state house he had been given by Housing NZ.
Papers Mr Heatley had received under the Official Information Act showed the sublessees had paid the official tenant $210 a week in rent.
They found out they were in a state home only when they applied to Housing NZ to get a state house of their own.
They said they had been paying rent but had received arrears notices in the mail from Housing NZ threatening to end the tenancy.
They also said the man had "said he knew someone in housing" which was how he got the place.
Mr Heatley asked Mr Carter how a person could be allocated a state house in Mangere while owning a holiday home in Russell.
Not only had he got away with that, he had also got away with not living in the state house, "instead renting it out for a tidy profit to an unwitting family," Mr Heatley said.
Mr Carter told Parliament the alleged behaviour was totally inappropriate.
A spokesman for the minister later said Housing NZ had about a month ago passed the case to the Crown solicitor to consider whether to prosecute.
The papers Mr Heatley received said the tenant got a state house "by not fully declaring his assets and income and partner which would otherwise have made him ineligible".
- NZPA
