Tenant awarded $30k after living with his family in uninsulated sleepout

A south Auckland tenant has been awarded $30,000 from the Tenancy Tribunal, after his family spent three years living in a sleepout with no insulation or sufficient ventilation, Stuff reports. Sukhmander Singh Brar and his family had rented the property on Takanini School Road from PFSL Rentals Ltd. Brar told the Tenancy Tribunal he wanted a full refund of rent fees, because the property he was living in was “unlawful”. Tribunal adjudicator Jack Tam agreed the property was unlawful because it had only been consented as a “games room” or additional sleepout, and not a place of residency.