What was Tenancy Tribunal case 5081972 about?

The tribunal order states: By consent, the Tribunal orders suppression of both the Tenant and Landlord

How much money was awarded in case 5081972?

Verified claim lines are listed on this page.

What type of tenancy dispute was case 5081972?

The primary dispute was State of repair. Related themes: Healthy homes.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5081972?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/11442017-Tribunal_Order_Redacted.pdf.

What was Tenancy Tribunal case 5081972 about?

The tribunal order states: By consent, the Tribunal orders suppression of both the Tenant and Landlord

How much money was awarded in case 5081972?

Verified claim lines are listed on this page.

What type of tenancy dispute was case 5081972?

The primary dispute was State of repair. Related themes: Healthy homes.

Where can I read the official tribunal order for case 5081972?

The official Ministry of Justice published order is available at https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/TTV2/PDF/11442017-Tribunal_Order_Redacted.pdf.

New Zealand Tenancy Tribunal Case 5081972 — State of repair

Order

By consent, the Tribunal orders suppression of both the Tenant and Landlord name and identifying details.
The application is dismissed.

Reasons

Both parties attended the hearing.
The tenant seeks to reduce her rent. The tenant has been living in a 3-bed house in [Town] since 2005 and her rent has recently increased from $350.00 per week to $550.00 per week.
The tenant is required to establish the claim to the civil law standard of proof, on the balance of probabilities.
The Tribunal has the power to reduce rent to market rent if the amount payable exceeds market rent by a substantial amount (s.25(1) of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 (RTA)). Market rent is defined as the rent a willing landlord might reasonably expect to receive and a willing tenant might reasonably expect to pay for the tenancy, taking into account the general level of rents for comparable premises in the locality or similar localities and such other matters as the Tribunal considers relevant.
The parties’ personal circumstances are not relevant and are not considered.
If granted, a market rent assessment cannot be backdated beyond the date of the application (s.25(4) RTA) and continues in force for a maximum period of 6 months (s.26(1)(a) RTA).
On 8 November 2024, the tenant received a notice of rent review increasing weekly rent from $350.00 to $550.00.
The tenant says the house is not up to market rent standard and the exterior in particular, is in urgent need of repair. The tenant provided photographs of the exterior peeling paintwork, weatherboards and soffits in disrepair, roof, holes in joinery, an unpainted wall behind the toilet, and peeling and rotten windowsills. The tenant says a window fell apart when she opened it at Christmas, and it has not yet been repaired. The tenant says she also has concerns about the roof as she believes it needs replacing and not just patch repaired.
The landlord says they looked at the lower quartile on Tenancy Services website and they believe $550.00 is appropriate as lower quartile rent for the property. The landlord acknowledges there are some maintenance issues to be addressed, but the house is currently up to Healthy Homes standards. The landlord says the rent for a neighbouring property is $30.00 less because they do not have a garage.
Based on the photographs provided by the tenant, I share her concerns around maintenance. The exterior has not been painted in almost 20 years and the windows appear to be dilapidated. The landlord is on notice they are obligated to maintain the property in a reasonable state of repair. It is open to the tenant to bring any additional claims she wishes to the Tribunal.
I acknowledge that a rent increase of $200.00 is substantial by any measure. However, the issue for me to decide is whether the rent payable is substantially above market rent. The tenant faces the difficulty of establishing a comparison between the property in question and other tenancies and proving that rent exceeds market rent by a substantial amount.
Tenancy Services market rent statistics for the [Town] area for a 3-bed house currently record the lower quartile as $575.00, median as $600.00 and upper $645.00, for a total of 246 active bonds. It appears the lower quartile has increased by $25.00 since the landlord sent their notice of rent increase.
The tenant has drawn attention to maintenance issues however she has not provided sufficient evidence to prove that rent for this property should be less than the lower quartile. The tenant has not provided any evidence of comparable properties in the locality to justify a lower rent.
I have considered the evidence presented by both parties. While I sympathise with the tenant, I find they have not proved to the requisite standard that rent exceeds market rent by a substantial amount.
As the claim is not proven it must be dismissed.
Both parties have agreed to mutual name suppression.

Tenancy Tribunal case 5081972 — State of repair

At a glance

Tenancy Tribunal case 5081972 — State of repair

At a glance

Claims & awards

Order

Reasons

Topics & place

Key findings

Frequently asked questions

Claims & awards

Order

Reasons

Topics & place

Key findings

Frequently asked questions