Auckland floods: What to do if your rental home has been damaged

Tuesday, 31 January 2023

Drone video shows the damage and cliff erosion around Colwill Rd, Massey, after Auckland's worst rainfall on record.

Thousands of Aucklanders are dealing with the mammoth task of cleaning up their homes after the fatal floods that drenched the supercity on Friday and the rains since.

But some landlords are not clear on what their obligations are when it comes to rental properties that have been destroyed or damaged by natural disasters, after reports of families being illegally evicted.

Manurewa MP Arena Williams shared on Facebook that a young mother and her baby had been kicked out by her landlord via email.

“If you are a landlord in Manurewa at the moment, don’t kick out your tenants, you’ll be booking yourself a date with me in the Tenancy Tribunal,” Williams said.

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Thousands of homes across Auckland were damaged from Friday’s downpour.

Tenant advocacy group Renter’s United said your landlord “can’t provide notice [to leave] purely on the premise the property needs to be cleaned, only if the entire property in uninhabitable”.

“If your property is only partially uninhabitable, then you can get in touch with your landlord and they must adjust your rent accordingly,” Renter’s United spokesperson Geordie Rogers said.

Head of Tenancy Services Steve Watson said if tenants and landlords “cannot agree on the amount the rent should be reduced by, they can apply to the Tenancy Tribunal for the matter to be resolved”.

If your home is completely uninhabitable, you don’t have to pay rent, Renter’s United said.

Rogers said if your rental is uninhabitable, “you do not have to pay future rent”, and “you have the right to provide two days’ notice to end the tenancy”, which Watson confirmed.

Rogers said to let your landlord know about any damage in your home.

“They will probably want to know to what extent the property is damaged and will likely want to come around to have a look and take some photos,” Rogers said.

Auckland Council has advised property owners and tenants to be careful when cleaning up floodwater.

“You’ll need to clean up any of your belongings and things that didn’t come with the tenancy.

“Your landlord, on the other hand, is responsible for cleaning up anything you don’t own – like the carpets, any damage to the exterior or interior and so on.”

Watson said landlords are responsible for paying any “damages caused by natural disaster”, and the costs for drying the property.

Landlords also need to pay tenants for any electricity charges they may have incurred through the drying process.

Emergency services across Auckland are working to drain flooded properties.

”Tenants that move out while repairs are being done won’t have to pay rent until the house can be lived in again,” Watson said.

Auckland Council has released a list of tips for those having to clean up after a flood, including wearing protective flooding, and throwing away all food and drinking water that may have come into contact with floodwater.

The Insurance Council of New Zealand (ICNZ) has also released advice for those dealing with property damage.

“Once the danger of further flooding and damage has passed and your power is working and safe, the priority is to get on with drying the home out and reducing mould,” ICNZ chief executive Tim Grafton said.

Grafton said “under no circumstances” should property owners “attempt to remove any other floor covering or wall linings if there is any suspicion that they might contain hazardous materials”.

As of Monday, thousands of claims had already been lodged.

“Given the scale of damage we are seeing, we can expect this to take longer than normal. Aotearoa New Zealand’s insurers are in this for the long haul.”