This letter appeared in this week's Wellington Weekly News. Have you had problems finding a home to rent? Share your experience in the comments below, or email [email protected]

Regarding the story in last week’s paper about a family who couldn’t get a rental home as they had pets. I’m pleased to hear they now they have found a home.

Being on the other side of the coin when I rented a property out, I must say I was 

surprised the council told them to stay put and ignore the notice to quit. 

Having been in a position in the past, when I had a tenant who stopped paying the rent, I followed the legal procedure to give them at least two months notice to quit, no rent was received during this time and as arrears had already mounted up, I was relieved when the whole episode was over and we could  all move on.

If tenants are being told to disobey the carefully followed eviction law and the tenants stay, if this is the information the council are giving,  the landlord then has to go to court to ask for the property to be returned to them, which is a very expensive procedure. The property may need repairs and refurbishment before it can be re -rented. Its a huge cost to the landlord.

I do feel the council should not be telling tenants to stay put when landlords are following the legal procedure.

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