By Torika Tokalau of Local Democracy Reporting
A South Auckland property director has been handed a hefty fine after running an illegal boarding house for migrant workers that wasn’t fit to live in.
Paul Knights was fined $54,000 by the Auckland District Court for housing migrant workers in 44 container-style cabins that lacked adequate fire safety systems and appropriate means of escape.
According to Auckland Council, Knights, who was acting as director of 4 Corners Investment Ltd, did not obtain any building or resource consents.
The unlawful operation ran between 2017 and 2019 in Manurewa.
Knights and his family lived on a mezzanine floor above the operation, while he received a share of rental income.
In a written statement, council said between mid 2017 and early 2018, Knights allowed the staged installation of prefabricated cabins and other associated building works, inside the light industry-zoned building.
He allowed the works to proceed despite clear advice from the council that consent for boarding house activity was unlikely and indications that the activities were unlawful, council said.
When delivering the sentence, Judge Sheena Tepania said the case demonstrated why the consenting process existed and why “the creation of risk to health and safety calls for a strong response, even if that risk has not eventuated”.
“While one cannot say what Mr Knights subjectively ‘knew’ about the building’s safety, managing such things is the purpose of a consenting regime, which he knew about and did not comply with,” Tepania said.
“I find circumventing the resource consenting process undermined the council’s ability to properly regulate the use of land. The defendant’s commercial motivation speaks to his culpability and his intent or wilfulness.”
The court determined Knights’ offending went beyond wilful blindness, and that he knowingly flouted requirements for financial gain.
In addition to collecting rental income, he avoided the costs associated with obtaining consents and maintaining a current Building Warrant of Fitness (BWOF).
The Crown submitted that while no actual harm occurred, the tenants were housed unsafely. Fire safety systems were inadequate for a boarding house of that scale and the cabins were not arranged to provide appropriate escape routes.
Tepania rejected defence claims that the absence of actual harm should reduce the penalty and accepted that as the building owner and property director, the duty to ensure that the building was compliant and safe rested solely with Knights.
She stressed that the purpose of the Resource Management Act and the Building Act, was to prevent such risks from arising.
Council team leader investigations Paul Cowling said the outcome was a clear reminder that putting people at risk for financial gain would not be tolerated.
“Our role is to protect both people and the environment, and Aucklanders must be able to trust that buildings are safe and properly consented. Council will not hesitate to act against anyone who cuts corners at the expense of community safety.”
Knights’ co-defendants, Radius Contracting Ltd and logistics manager William Farmer, were fined $67,500 and $45,000 respectively in 2021, with penalties later upheld on appeal.
