eco-retreat
adsense

PHOTO: SUPPLIED The two-storey Piha studio, advertised as an “eco-retreat”, was constructed without the required building consent and did not comply with aspects of the building code (file photo).

An Auckland couple have been compensated and awarded more than $3000 after the “eco-retreat” they rented was found to have been illegally built. 

The two-storey West Auckland studio, advertised as an “eco-retreat”, was constructed without the required building consent, a recently released Tenancy Tribunal decision said. 

The rural Piha studio, located in a native bush setting “some distance” from the landlord’s house, had a compostable toilet, outdoor shower and kitchen facilities open to the outdoors, “to some extent”. 

Tenants Rachel and Leon Clarke were meant to rent out the studio for a year, but the tenancy ended about three months after it began.

READ MORE VIA STUFF