The Glendowie house where breaches of healthy homes standards were proved when the rental was managed by Barfoot & Thompson.
The Glendowie house where breaches of healthy homes standards were proved when the rental was managed by Barfoot & Thompson.
A $2 million Glendowie house rented for $1080 per week did not meet healthy homes standards and required many repairs, resulting in managers Barfoot & Thompson being fined $9700 by the Tenancy Tribunal.
Failure to provide a healthy homes statement, persistent dampness and mould in parts of the property, anon-functional house alarm, a faulty digital front door lock, holes in a back fence and a faulty oven seal were some of the issues at the home cited in the decision.
The problems came to the fore while Lawrence Buxton and Christine Druce rented the property.
“My family endured a difficult tenancy due to what we believe was poor property management and a disregard for legal obligations and tenant welfare,” Buxton told the Herald after the decision.
Barfoot & Thompson also acknowledged faults on its part.
Floki and Rufus at the Glendowie home where gaps in the fence meant their owners had to use ad-hoc measures to try to stop the dogs escaping.
Property management division general manager Anil Anna said: “Our management of this home regrettably fell short of standards and the high expectations we set for ourselves, and we accept the tribunal’s decision.”
Barfoot & Thompson had proactively completed a full programme of work during recent months to ensure compliance with healthy homes obligations for the managers and clients, he said.
“This included implementing improvements to record-keeping standards and a thorough compliance audit across our portfolio of 20,000-plus homes,” Anna said.
Buxton and Druce applied for compensation, general damages, exemplary damages, a refund of the filing fee and a refund of the bond.
The $9700 they won included:
Exemplary damages: $2400
Failure to maintain back fence: $2344
Failure to maintain digital front door lock: $2014
Failure to maintain house alarm: $724
Barfoot & Thompson were agents for owners Jamie and Andrea Saker. It made a cross-application for compensation, refund of the bond and reimbursement of the filing fee after the end of the tenancy.
Lawrence Buxton and Christine Druce never received an accurate healthy homes statement while renting this Glendowie house.
The tenants said defects were not investigated and repaired within a reasonable timeframe after being brought to the attention of the managers.
Cynthia Lam at Barfoot & Thompson was the manager for the house.
The tenants never got an accurate healthy homes statement, insulation statement or any correspondence that maintenance or healthy homes issues had been addressed.
They had tried to treat an area of carpet with Mould Stop but the carpet was so old that when they did it fell apart, they told the tribunal.
Barfoot & Thompson has acknowledged faults on its part in how it managed a Glendowie rental for the owners. Photo / Fiona Goodall
For 40 weeks, they could not use the front door because the lock was faulty and instead had to use the garage or side doors.
Window locks with missing latches were never replaced.
A seal on an oven door was faulty for nine months before it was repaired.
The fridge freezer supplied by the landlord failed “and we were left without this appliance for eight weeks, resorting to using a small bar fridge, also supplied by the landlord, that had difficulties cooling during this time”, a statement from the tenants said.
Gaps in the back fence were never repaired so the tenants used ad-hoc measures to try to stop their dogs escaping. This issue was never remedied during the tenancy.
The tribunal said it was in the public interest to penalise landlords who intentionally breach the law and fail to provide signed healthy homes standards statements.
The tribunal’s Michelle Pollak dismissed the landlords’ application for non-publication of their names.
Attempts to contact the landlords did not garner any response.
From July 1, all residential rentals must comply with healthy homes standards.
The approximately 500,000 New Zealand rental properties must meet five standards, according to Tenancy Services, part of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. These are heating, insulation, ventilation, moisture ingress and drainage, and draught stopping.
The Healthy Homes checklist explains the law so people know how rented homes must comply.
Anne Gibson has been the Herald‘s property editor for 25 years, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.
