Kāinga Ora's hoping more tenants will stay on top of rent after it's written off debts. 

It's announced a tougher stance on rental debt - and will end tenancies for people who skip rent with no attempt to get back on track.  

But it also says it'll forgive and reduce debt for consistently paying customers owing more than 12 weeks’ rent.

Chief executive Matt Crockett says the debt otherwise becomes too daunting for tenants to tackle. 

"We are going to manage it more closely, earlier, so that we never have customers that have more than 12 weeks. This is about cleaning up the situation we've got at the moment and resetting to move forward with a more pragmatic approach."

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