New tenant unaware of two grim deaths in his Wellington council flat

Wednesday, 22 April 2015

Interior of the flat where two tenants have died in Granville Flats, Berhampore. The new tenant is Jestin Johny.

A council flat where one man lay dead for eight months, and another for about a month, has got a new tenant.

But despite Wellington City Council's assurance the next tenant would be told of the Berhampore flat's grim history, Jestin Johny found out only when he came across a news story on the internet after he had already moved in.

The council has apologised to the computer science student from India, but he says he has no plans to move out. 'It's the past anyway.'

In January, a putrid smell alerted neighbours to the discovery of Dean Stewart's body inside flat 45 of the Granville Flats in Adelaide Rd. It was believed he died up to a month earlier.

It was the same one-bedroom flat where Wiremu Whakaue, 68, died in 2009. His body was not found for eight months.

After Stewart's death, council city housing manager Vicki McLaren said the flat had been thoroughly cleaned and was ready to be let again.

The council did not usually tell prospective tenants about deaths in flats, but the unusual history of flat 45 made it an exception. Any tenant who was uncomfortable about the flat would be given the option of another one, she said.

But council spokesman Clayton Anderson said a 'breakdown in communication' meant Johny was not informed.

Another tenant was originally scheduled to move into the flat, and was told of its history. But that person's circumstances changed and they did not need the flat.

That was when it was offered to Johny – but 'unfortunately he wasn't told'.

He moved in a week ago, and the council was unaware of its blunder until it was contacted by The Dominion Post on Wednesday.

Council staff contacted Johny to apologise, and to check that he was comfortable to remain in the flat.

After Whakaue's death, and another similar case in another council flat, the council resolved to put in extensive measures to prevent lonely tenants dying undiscovered.

These included regular visits and inspections, extra checks for those considered at risk or without next of kin, a dedicated tenancy case manager to work with high and complex-needs tenants, and an over-80s 'fun and friendship' programme.

But the measures failed to discover Stewart's death. A council spokesman said at the time that Stewart liked his privacy, and was too young to participate in some of the programmes devised to prevent such deaths.