The landlord of a central Auckland boarding house has failed to pay $240,700 in exemplary damages after admitting multiple breaches that affected 64 tenants.

The boarding house, known as The Station Hotel or The Station Backpackers, was investigated after a nationwide initiative to inspect similar boarding houses after the Loafers Lodge fire in 2023.

It is operated by Beach Road Hotel Limited, owned by Prakash Pandey.

Pandey is the owner and director of C P Asset Management Limited, which is part of the C P Group, one of New Zealand’s largest hotel owners and developers.

The Tenancy Compliance and Investigations Team (TCIT) said Pandey had agreed to pay the exemplary damages to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) by October 8.

TCIT national manager Brett Wilson said it was one of the largest sums that has been ordered when TCIT has taken action on behalf of affected tenants.

“This is a landlord with extensive experience in the accommodation industry who went to significant lengths in an attempt to evade their responsibilities under the Residential Tenancies Act and had tenants paying large sums to live in a property that was dangerous and non-compliant,” Wilson said.

“Boarding house compliance is a priority for TCIT and the team works with boarding house operators to ensure they are meeting their safety obligations.”

Inside the Auckland boarding house known as The Station Hotel or The Station Backpackers.

Pandey had accepted that he had committed the following unlawful acts:

• Failed to comply with the healthy homes standards for heating and ventilation.
• Failing to display a current Building Warrant of Fitness and comply with the Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fire Safety, Evacuation Procedures, and Evacuation Schemes) Regulations 2018.
• Compulsory information was missing from tenancy agreements, including insulation information, healthy homes compliance, and insurance statements.
• Using “accommodation contracts” that were designed to avoid the rules of the Act.
• Not lodging bonds with Tenancy Services and taking money from the bonds at the end of a tenancy without the tenant’s agreement.

Beach Road Hotel Limited agreed to be subject to a three-year restraining order from committing further unlawful acts.

They also agreed to pay all bond money received for current tenants and any former tenants where the bond has not been refunded.