Queenstown tenants evicted from council property amid housing crisis

Dan Oben and partner have been given 90 days to get out of this council-owned cabin, so someone else can move in. Photo / Mountain Scene, ODT

A Queenstown couple are furious they’re being evicted from their long-time council-owned cabin, amid a severe housing shortage, in favour of allegedly more-deserving tenants.

Dan Oben and his partner — along with, it’s understood, several other tenants — are being booted out of the council-owned Lynch Block, in an area earmarked for part of the Lakeview development.

“It’s a bit of a kick in the nuts. We’ve been there for, like, five years and we’ve looked after the place,” Oben says.

He says they’ve “massively” improved their cabin, while their council landlord has spent nothing.

“You should have seen it when we moved in, it was a bit of a s***-pit.

“I’ve replaced most of the carpets, I redid the gardening area and I fixed several leaks in the basement.”

While visiting sick family in Britain, Oben says they got an email from the council’s property management company asking them to fill out an assessment — or means test — for Queenstown Lakes Community Housing Trust, to prove they were still eligible to live there.

Oben says they’d earlier filled out a similar form and had their tenancy extended, and had no doubt they’d be eligible again.

To go overseas they’d also had to borrow money, meaning they were “in debt a little bit”.

To their great surprise, they were given 90 days’ notice to vacate their premises, late last month.

‘I feel liked we’ve just been a bit blindsided’

Initially, Oben says they were told the council intended demolishing their unit.

Later, however, they realised that wasn’t the case when someone came in to measure their windows “ahead of someone else moving in”.

“[The council] haven’t done anything for the whole period of time we’ve been there, and now we’re getting kicked out.

“I feel like we’ve just been a bit blindsided, and given a cop-out excuse.

“We’ve just become residents as well, so we’ve done our time, we’ve done a lot to stay in this country, and it’s been a bit of a battle.

“Now we seem settled, we’re getting kicked out.”

Oben is a landscape gardener and is currently working 60 hours a week “just to catch up”, while his partner only has part-time work while trying to find “a good job”.

“She’s gone through a few employers who treat her like s***,” he says.

He says finding other digs during an acute rental housing shortage is “a bit daunting”.

“There’s so many people inquiring at the exact same time, no one’s even getting back to me.”

Worse, he fears they’ll have to compete with people coming to Queenstown on working holiday visas this summer, while a lot of existing rental stock gets gobbled up for short-term Airbnb accommodation.

‘Prioritising cabins for those with greatest need’

Asked for a response, council PR man Sam White said: “Whilst we’re unable to comment on specific cases, we can confirm council is currently upgrading some of the cabins at the Lynch Block to Healthy Homes standards.

“This is in line with Ministry of Housing & Urban Development requirements and timescales. Work needs to be completed by July 2023.”

The council doesn’t have the money to upgrade all the cabins there, and, ultimately, wouldn’t be able to rent properties that didn’t meet the standards, he said.

“As a result, the total number of cabins available to tenants will be reduced.”

White said all existing tenants had been assessed by the Queenstown Lakes Community Housing Trust, to prioritise those in “greatest need”.

“We continue to work closely with all council tenants, and fully acknowledge potential changes to their current living arrangements will be unsettling.

“In addition to the housing trust, we are involving other relevant support services as required to help some tenants find alternative accommodation before their notice period ends.” - ODT