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Auckland Boarding House Evicts 26 People With Just 2 Days’ Notice
⚠️ Eviction Shock in Mt Eden
In a dramatic move, St Albans Lodge, a derelict 22-bedroom boarding house in Mt Eden, Auckland, ordered 26 vulnerable residents to leave within 48 hours.
Managers say the decision was made on health and safety grounds, but the short notice has raised serious concerns about how society supports its most at-risk people.
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👥 Who Was Affected?
✅ Five legal tenants were successfully rehoused.
🚫 21 others — deemed squatters — were left scrambling for shelter.
🤝 Social service outreach teams rushed to provide emergency accommodation.
One long-term resident, Bryan Watling, had lived at St Albans Lodge for seven years after spending 15 years sleeping rough in Auckland’s city centre.
Watling says the eviction notice left him and others devastated: “We had two days to get out, nowhere to go, and no clear plan.”
🏚️ A Boarding House in Decline
Once a place of refuge, the property had become derelict and unsafe. Safety concerns forced management to take urgent action — but critics argue the lack of notice endangered already vulnerable people, pushing many back onto the streets.
📰 Wider Issue for Housing in NZ
This eviction highlights broader problems facing New Zealand’s housing and homelessness crisis:
🔹 Shortage of affordable long-term rentals
🔹 Heavy reliance on emergency housing and motels
🔹 Strain on social services to cover sudden evictions
Housing advocates say the government must do more to regulate boarding houses and protect residents from being displaced without fair warning.
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SOURCE: RNZ