A New Zealand landlord demolished a unsafe home he couldn’t afford to fix, despite renting it to a homeless couple, and won tribunal support.

A retired Auckland landlord, unable to afford $197,000 in repairs for a structurally unsafe home, demolished the property after it was deemed uninhabitable due to dry rot, borer damage, and a detached chimney. Despite renting it to a homeless couple out of compassion, he was forced to terminate the tenancy due to financial hardship and council-imposed deadlines, including a $300,000 fine for non-compliance. The Tenancy Tribunal ruled in his favor, acknowledging his good intentions and the tenants’ awareness of the property’s condition, while noting they were placed in emergency housing after leaving on April 27, 2025.