Reserved judgment — appeal from Tribunal — Tenancy Tribunal — jurisdiction — unlawful premises — unlawful occupant — unlawful entry — bond repayment — “household unit” — Residential Tenancies Act 1986, ss 5(1)(n), 18, 78A, 85 & 117 — Building Act 2014, ss 7, 45, 114 & 115 — Buildings (Specified Systems, Change the Use and Earthquake Prone Buildings) Regulations 2005, rr 5, 6 & sch 2 — Clare Harding v Andries Caroto [2021] NZTT North Shore 4261473, 4241288 — Harding v Schellevis &Ors [2021] NZHC 1265 — Harding v Schellevis & Ors [2021] NZDC 1802 — Housing Corporation New Zealand v Salt District Court Auckland CIV 2007-004-002875, 9 May 2008 — Johnson v Clements [2022] NZDC 20805 — Want v Sunnor Dennis Parbhu & Kumud Patel as Trustees of the Impala Trust [2019] NZCA 6 — Anderson v F M Custodians Limited [2013] NZHC 2423 — Parbhu v Want [2018] NZHC 2079 — Ting Han Chen v Ashok Kumar [2022] NZDC 7783 — Kemp v Elliot [2022] NZDC 17792 — Exclusive Estates Limited v Hoffman [2022] NZDC 25495. The respondent had previously lived as a tenant in a granny flat on the appellant's property. During the tenancy the respondent's wife had joined him from overseas and also lived on the premises. The appellant said that she had never agreed to the respondent's wife living on the property. The parties came into conflict as a result, and the appellant had allegedly entered the granny flat without authorisation and had served the respondent's wife with a trespass notice. Eventually the tenancy was terminated about a month before it had been due to expire. The appellant submitted that this meant that the respondent owed her rent arrears. The Tenancy Tribunal had found the granny flat to be unlawful residential premises. The appellant had failed to meet her obligations under the Building Act and related regulations with regards the granny flat. Therefore, it would not be in the interests of justice to order the respondent to pay rent arrears. The Tribunal ordered $1100 in rent rebates, $500 in exemplary damages to the respondent for the appellant's unlawful entry, and the repayment of the respondent's $1920 bond. The appellant was ordered to pay a total of $3425 to the respondent. She appealed the Tribunal's findings to the Court, in particular the finding that the granny flat was unlawful residential premises. The Court agreed with the Tribunal. The appellant had failed to gain the consents required for the granny flat to be rented out as residential premises, and therefore it was unlawful. However apart from lacking the proper consents, the granny flat was generally safe and sanitary. The Court considered $975 to be an adequate amount of rent rebate and accordingly reduced the sum awarded to the respondent. The rest of the Tribunal's findings were left to stand. Judgment Date: 12 April 2023.