Renters worried over refugee plan

Blenheim is set to get up to five refugee families seven times a year as part of Immigration New Zealand’s new resettlement commitment.

Immigration New Zealand confirmed yesterday that where Housing New Zealand did not have a vacant property, or where quota refugees did not qualify for public housing, a private home would be rented.

However, Marlborough real estate agents said demand for rentals already outstripped supply and finding homes for new families would add pressure to the rental market.

First National Marlborough divisional manager of property management Mariette Knudsen said she thought the Blenheim rental market could handle an increase of half a dozen families, but any more would add significant pressure.

‘‘We don’t think the housing shortage is as bad as it was this time last year. It is still short, but it’s not as bad.’’

It could make it more difficult for locals to find rentals, but it depended on how many refugee families were being placed in private rentals, she said.

‘‘Because there is a bit of pressure on housing, that means landlords can be quite particular about who they take on. If someone has bad credit, that’s going to make it awfully hard for them.’’

Last week, Immigration Minister Iain Lees-galloway announced Blenheim would be one of six new refugee resettlement locations in the country.

It was proposed quota refugees would begin to be settled in Whanganui, Blenheim and Timaru from March 2020, and Masterton and Levin from May 2020. Another resettlement location was yet to be announced. The nationalities of refugees to be resettled had not been decided.

The housing needs for all quota refugees were assessed by the Ministry of Social Development during a reception programme at the Mangere Refugee Resettlement Centre.

Immigration New Zealand national manager refugee division Andrew Lockhart said work was under way to minimise the impact of the current refugee quota on housing pressures in existing settlement locations.

The five additional confirmed settlement locations would provide more flexibility to place refugee families in locations where there was greater availability of suitable housing when compared with the rest of the country, Lockhart said.

Knudsen said she didn’t expect the pressure on the market to ease at any point in the near future.

Bayleys Marlborough general manager David Lee said there were properties available for rent but tenants needed to do their homework and get their paperwork in order so they could put forward accurate, welldocumented applications.

‘‘Have a realistic budget, rents have increased over the past 18 months,’’ he said.

Three-bedroom rentals in Blenheim were approximately $420 per week. A new-build threebedroom house would be about $530, Lee said.