Terminally ill woman, WINZ families asked to vacate homes by Hamilton landlord after Government crackdown on property investors

A Hamilton landlord says she has no choice but to ask a terminally ill woman and four Work and Income beneficiary families to vacate their homes following a Government crackdown on property investors.

Natasha Goodwin made the difficult decision to give tenants of her five rental properties their 90 days’ notice last month after calculating the Government’s recently announced housing changes would soon cost her tens of thousands of dollars extra a year.

Among those forced out of their homes is Anne Johnson, a woman whose rare respiratory condition is likely to end her life within the next few months – but Goodwin says she’s only breaking even, and the changes have left her with no choice.

That’s contested by Finance Minister Grant Robertson, who argues what happens to these vulnerable tenants is not the Government’s fault. He points out the new interest deductibility rules won’t even affect Goodwin yet, so it’s up to her whether she keeps her tenants housed.

The changes, announced last month, are the Government’s attempt to cool rapidly escalating house prices and help first-home buyers into a market many have been priced out of. They include an extension of the bright-line test, a $3.8 billion fund to help green-light new builds, and a $2 billion boost for Kāinga Ora to make strategic land purchases.