In just one day, the Dunedin Tenancy Tribunal ordered $7040 of compensation for two groups of student tenants who had their flats disrupted by construction work. Critic spoke to the two groups about what the process was like.
One group of tenants, who flat on Leith Street, took Edinburgh Realty to the Tenancy Tribunal. Upon arrival, their flat was a “construction site” as they described it.
After about a month of dealing with the construction site, and after dissatisfaction with Edinburgh Realty’s lack of support, the tenants went to the Tenancy Tribunal claiming that the construction had disrupted their quiet enjoyment (right to live in the flat without being disrupted). They were awarded $3,020.44 in compensation, which took the form of a rent reduction.
The Leith Street tenants signed the flat in May 2019. They were told about the construction in September 2019, and builders arrived on site in November. The landlord said that the work would be completed before the tenants moved in. But when the tenants moved in on February 5, construction was still in full swing.
“We signed the flat in good faith, and we weren’t told anything,” the flatmates said.
“When we arrived, it was a construction site,” said Tane*, one of the tenants. “There were workers everyday, scaffolding was up during O and Flo Week. It wasn’t mentioned at all in the agreement and they didn’t tell us about anything.” Documents supplied to Critic show that the area around the flat was covered with building off-cuts, dust, paint and buckets.
According to the tenants, the construction meant they could not access car parks in the courtyard of the flat because the builders would park in them. There was full scaffolding around the property. The flat itself had holes where appliances were supposed to be, gaps around the windows, and disconnected pipes in the kitchen sink and a bathroom sink which leaked sewage.
The tenants emailed Edinburgh Realty on February 21 and highlighted their concerns about the ongoing construction. The property manager forwarded these concerns to the landlord, but the tenants did not hear anything for another fortnight. One of the tenants then phoned Edinburgh Realty twice, but the calls were unanswered. Nearly a month later, on March 17, they received a response from the landlord.
The email from the landlord stated that “we have been compliant with not only our tenancy agreement but we believe also with the appropriate legislation”. They offered to pay for the power that was being used by the contractors, and a $200 New World voucher if the tenants were to accept this as a full and final settlement. The tenants rejected this, stating that they felt as though it “completely undermined the value of going to the Tribunal”.
After Covid-19 restrictions were lifted, the tenants sent another email reiterating their concerns upon returning to Dunedin. At this point, the construction had been completed, but the disruption which it caused had still not been addressed. The tenants stated that if a response was not received by May 28, they would take the matter to the Tenancy Tribunal. This date was ignored, so the flatmates went to the Tribunal.
The tenants said that signing up to the Tenancy Tribunal was difficult at first, “but once you get there it’s pretty straightforward. It was worth doing, and he [the landlord] knew he was in the wrong.”
A similar story goes for another group of tenants on Royal Terrace, who rented from Property Steward. “When we signed it there were issues. There was mould, leaks ... and we were told it would be cleaned and fixed before arrival,” they said. The issues were not fixed.
“The flat was in such a bad state when we moved in,” claimed one of the tenants. In January, the house had windows boarded up and painted for two months. “We couldn’t open our windows downstairs for two months. It was mouldy and damp, he [the landlord] kept making excuses as to why nothing was done, but we decided to take action as he wouldn’t listen to us.”
“It was super frustrating and unfair because we felt like we were being ignored and he didn’t really care about our well-being. Some of us felt bad for constantly asking him to fix stuff because he got quite manipulative with how he said he was doing heaps for us,” said one tenant.
Maintenance workers would show up to the flat as late as 9pm and they had two keys for the eight bedroom flat. Documents supplied to Critic show that other issues in the flat were a door on the bottom floor that let water in, no extractor fan in the kitchen, and a broken fan in the bathroom.
Like the Leith Street tenants, the Royal Terrace tenants succeeded in their claim that the construction had disrupted their quiet enjoyment. They were awarded $4,020.44 in compensation which took form in a rent reduction. The Tribunal also ordered their landlord to complete a list of repairs.
The tenants said that “filling out the applications which get sent to the Tribunal are easy, and in the meantime we went to OUSA which was really helpful. They told us [what] to bring in terms of evidence and documents.”
One of the tenants said that “going into it is scary” but the experience is “worth doing, even though it dragged on it was worth it. We got our money back and the problems got fixed. We just wanted our flat in a liveable condition, it’s not that hard to ask for.”
The tenant also said that “the landlords take advantage of students, you still need to live in the flat the whole year, it’s your home. They can’t take advantage, they won’t do it if it’s a family. They think you don’t know your rights.”
For other students considering rent reductions, or perhaps going to the Tribunal, but are uncertain about whether or not their circumstances are applicable, Sage Burke from OUSA Student Support has some advice. Sage said that a rent reduction should be discussed or sought after if “something is seriously impacting the flat, for example it’s a construction site. The roof needs replacing, you thought it would take a weekend but it’s taken six weeks, that would be reasonable to discuss a rent reduction. [It’s when] the ability to live properly in the flat is being affected by something.”
“The first step is to try to communicate with the property manager to see what’s possible. The second step would perhaps be a 14-day notice, with the Tenancy Tribunal being the last step.” Sage recommended contacting OUSA Student Support for help before doing any of these steps. If you do find yourself going through the process “always do it in writing, be polite and professional, and try to open a conversation,” he said.