Dishonest southerners have been kicked out of their state houses as the Government cracks down on people defrauding the system.
A team of Housing New Zealand investigators spent 18 months uncovering fraud that would otherwise have cost the taxpayer $6.3 million.
Investigations manager Kane Patena yesterday confirmed 10 of the 166 tenancies terminated between July 2009 and September this year were in the region south of Ashburton.
Mr Patena could not give specific details of the southern cases but said most of the fraudulent activity was in Auckland.
The cases included situations where tenants did not properly reveal income from employment, business interests or assets, or that they lived with a partner.
Others sublet the property, turning a profit at the taxpayers' expense.
In one termination case, an Auckland woman who lived in a state house for six years deliberately disguised her position as director of a limousine company by using false identities.
She owned six taxis when she applied for the house and bought another six during her tenancy.
She also bought and sold several vehicles during her time there.
She was married three times prior to and during her tenancy, but did not declare she had a partner.
She also bought two houses during her tenancy, both of which she rented out.
She was prosecuted for fraud, and paid $50,000 reparation to avoid prison.
The total debt relating to that tenancy was $63,319.
That was one of 130 cases taken to court, 10 times more than when demand for houses started to climb two years ago, Mr Patena confirmed.
For those convicted, sentences ranged from community work to home detention and imprisonment.
"Clearly, we do not want people engaging in fraudulent activity to take a property that is needed by someone else. This work should be a clear message that we will work hard to identify people abusing the system."
Housing Minister Phil Heatley said Housing New Zealand would not tolerate people who abused the state housing system, and would vigorously pursue those who did.
"It is just not fair that we have families in need waiting for state housing assistance, while others, who have the benefit of a state home, are flagrantly operating outside the rules," he said.
