Weakening Renters rights hurts all of us / A.J. Hendry

No-cause evictions threaten to fray our social safety net, weaken our communities, and increase risk of homelessness...

Photo by Tierra Mallorca on Unsplash

Submissions on 'No Cause' evictions end tomorrow.

This bill will allow Landlords to evict us without providing a good and sufficient reason.

The impact of the bill will be to create a chilling effect on renters, creating an environment where mum and dad renters are afraid to request that their landlords uphold their responsibility's to appropriately manage and repair their properties due to fear that they - and their children - might face an eviction.

But, of course, it is not just parents and their children who will be impacted by this change. Elderly, and our young people, will also face the same risks.

There is already an inherit power dynamic between landlords and people who rent.

Many renters fear they might face unlawful eviction if they ask their Landlord to follow through with overdue repairs, or ensure their home is compliant with healthy homes standards.

There is also fear that if people do use the tribunal that landlords will blacklist them and that they will struggle in the future to find housing for their kids and whānau.

The impact of this decision will be decreased security for people who rent. And this will impact all of us.

When renters rights are undermined, the insecurity created damages our communities.

When families are unable to put down roots in a community for fear of moving constantly, they don't get connected in their community, they don't develop strong bonds with their neighbour, and as a result our entire social safety net is weakened.

This leads to increased risk of homelessness, as people are pushed out of their communities, and unable to find housing, are shoved into emergency accomodation.

It can also contributes to the disconnection and lack of belonging a lot of children and young people experience, which again, connects in with our conversation on youth crime.

When children don't feel that they have a stake in their community, when they don't feel a sense of belonging, lack connection and hope, this can be a key factor that can contribute to some young people and children coming into conflict with the law.

And than theirs the impact on mental health, the anxiety that can be created in children when they are forced to move out of their community, the lack of support available to whānau as community bonds weaken and fray after the third, fourth, fifth move.

As a society we need to decide what sort of communities we want to build.

These decisions, may financially benefit a handful of people, but they negatively impact the majorly of us, and the fall out affects us all.

Housing is more than just a landlords investment plan, it is a fundamental and basic human need we all require to thrive.

To ensure our communities are strong and resilient, we require stable and safe housing.

#LoveIsTheWay

A.J. Hendry is a Youth Development Worker and rangatahi advocate, working in the Youth Housing and Homelessness space. He leads and co-founded Kick Back, a youth development organizations responding to youth homelessness and is also an advocate working collectively to end youth homelessness in Aotearoa. He is also the curator and creator of When Lambs Are Silent.