Being a good neighbour :: Kāinga Ora

We work hard to support you as a tenant and provide you with a stable home. In return, we expect you to be a good tenant and neighbour.

To help support this, we have strengthened our approach to managing tenancies and responding to disruptive behaviour. This type of behaviour includes acting in a way that creates a significant safety issue or continuing to be disruptive to those around you and ignoring warnings from Kāinga Ora.

When disruptive behaviour occurs, you can expect us to use the Residential Tenancies Act when needed to drive behaviour change and provide a clear deterrent for disruptive behaviour. If behaviour doesn’t change, we will end tenancies when we need to. If this happens, we will not provide you with another home.

We know that most of our tenants are responsible and treat their neighbours with respect. If that’s you, then you won’t notice any changes to the way we manage your tenancy.

A good neighbour is:

considerate – respects people’s rights and privacy
tolerant – understands that people have different ways of doing things and that is okay
concerned – notices when something is wrong and does something about it
responsible – for the actions of their families, guests and pets

We ask that you:

talk things over when there are problems, listen to other people’s points of view, and try to come to an agreement that works for everyone
keep an eye on neighbours’ properties when they are away and report any suspicious activity
keep the noise coming from your place (music, parties, alarms, dogs, cars and so on) at a reasonable level, particularly at night
be tolerant of neighbours’ children playing outside
keep shared driveways clear
keep your section tidy.

Watch below for what’s good to know about building a community with your neighbours.

Sorting out problems

Even if you usually get on well with your neighbours, there may be times when you disagree. First try speaking to your neighbour, as you may find most problems can be solved with a good chat.

Sometimes problems can’t be resolved by talking. If that happens, start writing down the details, including what happens and when it happens. This can help make it clear what is going on. Your notes will also be useful if you need to take the matter further.

Sometimes you may need to ask for help to solve problems:

If you think someone is in physical danger, particularly children, call the police immediately on 111.
- 111 is the emergency number for Police, Fire and Ambulance.
- 105 is the number for Police non-emergencies.
If you have problems with loud noise, you may wish to call the Noise Control Office at your local council.
If you have problems with dogs, you may wish to call the Animal Control Office at your local council.

If you do report a problem to the authorities, please also give us a call on 0800 801 601 to let us know about the issue.

What can Kāinga Ora do?

As a landlord, we have a responsibility both to our tenants and the communities they live in. This means we take action if someone interferes with the peace, comfort, privacy or safety of those living nearby. It is important we are fair in our approach and when we get a complaint, we collect evidence first to get a full picture of what has happened.   
 
What we do depends on the circumstances. Sometimes we will need to make referrals to specialist social and health services to help address underlying causes of behaviour. We may also use Residential Tenancies Act tools, such warning notices, and required or voluntary relocations, which are effective in helping change behaviour. There are also times we may need to involve other agencies such as Police.  
 
Find out more about how we manage disruptive behaviour or contact us if you need help with problems in your neighbourhood. We will work with you and anyone else involved to resolve the issue.