Regional rental prices ‘out of control’
Napier mother Tania Thomson applied for more than 100 rentals before finding a property to live in.
‘‘I don’t think I was ridiculed for being a sole parent or . . . having pets, because I have pets. But the cost of rentals, it’s just outrageous,’’ she said.
Thomson has been in her Awatoto house for nearly a year but it took her more than a year to find it.
‘‘It was actually demoralising because you walk away and you think, what’s wrong with me? In hindsight, I know it wasn’t me; it was just the amount of people who were applying,’’ she said.
‘‘When you’re standing in the room with 50 to 60 other people trying to find a house, it’s just overwhelming. It’s totally out of control.’’
Trade Me figures showed the median weekly rent in Hawke’s Bay jumped 13.9 per cent over the past year to $410. This was more than double the national increase of 6.7 per cent. In Auckland, the median weekly rent was up 3.8 per cent on a year ago to $550, while the capital’s median rent was up 8.9 per cent at $490 a week.
Ministry of Social Development (MSD) figures showed there were 673 people on the Social Housing Register in June for the East Coast region, which includes Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne, up from 584 in March.
MSD approved 902 East Coast emergency housing special needs grants in the June quarter, up from 332 for the March quarter.
MSD regional director Naomi Whitewood said the ministry didn’t know all the drivers behind the increase.
‘‘Social issues such as homelessness, the prevalence of meth and reintegration of people back into the community have contributed to the need.’’
Hawke’s Bay’s branch manager for Oxygen property, Jamie Richardson, said the region’s situation had been ‘‘pretty bad’’ for a while.
Thomson, who lives with her 14-year-old son Jack, runs a koha shed out of her home to give back to the homeless. She is a breast cancer survivor, who has also undergone major knee surgery.
Thomson said she was thankful her previous landlord, who had decided to renovate and sell, let the pair stay on while she looked for a new property.