The government has announced it will write off related debts of people living in Housing New Zealand (HNZ) properties who were wrongly evicted because of flawed methamphetamine contamination policies.
As a result of these policies ending their Housing NZ tenancy, affected people turned to the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) for support for things like emergency housing, moving costs, storage, replacement furniture, school uniforms or bond and rent in advance. They were granted support but were required to pay back the money and some fell into significant debt.
Now, the government had instructed MSD to wipe these debts. MSD will also refund any money people have already paid back. Payments to these people will start from mid-April and everyone is expected to be paid by mid-year.
“This is one more way we can right things for people who needed emergency housing and other MSD support after their Housing NZ tenancies ended because of erroneous meth contamination policies,” said Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni. “The debt is a burden for many and has caused distress for those who lost their homes through no fault of their own.”
In October 2018, campaign group Stop the War on Tenancies spokesman Mike Butler called for both homeowners and insurance companies, who have paid out tens of thousands for each property to be “decontaminated,” to also be compensated.
“This is regulatory failure,” Butler said at the time. “No one in government asked the simple questions of how a substance, if smoked in a property, be so toxic to warrant evicting tenants, tearing out gib linings, dumping carpets, stoves, electrical fittings, and placing warnings on property titles.”
