Temporary accommodation turned into a year-long gloomy existence for a young Whangārei mum and her two preschool children in a substandard transitional house.
A 21-year-old Whangārei mother of two pre-schoolers has been evicted from her Salvation Army transitional housing just weeks before Christmas, despite having no alternative accommodation.
The mother told the Northern Advocate she believed she was evicted in retaliation for complaints she made about the condition of the property.
However, the Salvation Army says its team acted in accordance with internal processes, and planned exits from its housing were a “last resort”.
The property was meant to be the family’s home for up to 12 weeks. However, due to the housing crisis, they lived there for about a year.
The mother received an “early exit” (eviction) notice to leave by November 24 after the Salvation Army issued her with three tenancy breaches.
With nowhere else to go, they stayed until contractors arrived on December 8 and started putting their belongings outside.
“If my grandmother had not taken us in, we’d be on the streets,” the woman said.
Her grandmother did so reluctantly as her house was already overcrowded, and she believed the problem was for the Salvation Army or Housing New Zealand to solve.
The mother said problems at the property included:
Other issues she identified included draughty windows, water leaking from a shower wall and pooling in the bathroom doorway, and no underlay between carpet and concrete flooring, resulting in a cold and unforgivingly hard surface for her children.
The Salvation Army confirmed it was engaged in mediation for the case through Fairway Dispute Resolution, after which it would provide more details.
For now, it could not comment on individual cases due to privacy reasons.
“We can confirm that our team has acted in accordance with our internal processes as well as the guidance outlined in the Transitional Housing Code of Practice.
“We have worked closely with the person in question, offering support to find alternative housing and navigate this process.
“Every effort has been made to identify alternative solutions, and a planned exit from our housing is always a last resort,” a Salvation Army spokesperson said.
The mother disputed receiving help and said she believed another provider declined assistance due to comments made by the Salvation Army.
Te Tūāpapa Kura Kāinga - Ministry of Housing and Urban Development oversees transitional housing providers, such as the Salvation Army, and established a Transitional Housing Code of Practice, which sets minimum standards for housing quality, tenancy management, and dispute resolution.
Providers must ensure properties meet Healthy Homes Standards, including adequate heating, insulation, and ventilation, and respond promptly to maintenance issues.
They are also required to support tenants in finding alternative housing and make planned exits a last resort.
The Salvation Army said it worked with the landlords who supplied its transitional housing properties to remedy concerns when maintenance issues were identified.
The mother claimed an exterior ranch slider door remained unlockable for most of her tenancy despite her protestations.
She said she also had to fix a gap in the fence to keep dogs out and prevent her children from straying onto the road.
She had not received paperwork for the first alleged tenancy breach, believed to relate to rubbish strewn by a dog that got in through the gap in the fence last October.
She was issued two further breaches, and believed they were in retaliation for ongoing maintenance concerns she and her grandmother raised at a meeting with the Salvation Army’s transitional housing manager on November 3.
The mother questioned whether the latter two breaches would stand up to scrutiny.
The first was a glass drug bong found on top of a kitchen cupboard - the mother says it is not hers.
She accepted the Salvation Army’s rules forbade drug use, but rejected the bong’s presence was proof of it.
The other breach was for refusing a further inspection eight days later (November 14), the woman claimed the schedule was fortnightly.
The woman said she was disappointed not to have been provided permanent housing after so long in transitional housing, and was still awaiting a mediation date.
Sarah Curtis is a news reporter for the Northern Advocate, focusing on a wide range of issues. She has nearly 20 years’ experience in journalism, most of which she spent court reporting in Gisborne and on the East Coast.