Where are the rentals in Southland?
Southland’s rental shortage continues to be a problem, with one property manager saying the rental market was in ‘‘dire straits’’. Reporter Logan Savory talked to people within the industry, as well as those trying to rent homes, to get a gauge as to how
The anecdotal murmurings point to Southland having a major rental problem, and the numbers suggest those conversations are not all hot air.
It is economics 101, according to those within the industry.
There are more people wanting homes to rent than there are homes available to rent in Southland.
People are ‘‘shoulder-toshoulder’’ at rental viewings and finding a home to rent is now akin to applying for a job in many circumstances.
After a decade of almost stagnant prices in Southland, those in the industry said in most cases landlords were able to charge more than ever.
Head of Rentals for Trade Me, Aaron Clancy, said in January there was a 23 per cent dip in the total number of Southland rentals being advertised compared to the corresponding time a year before.
He said prices had also risen, with the median rent for three or four-bedroom Southland houses now at $318, up 9.5 per cent yearon-year. It is up on the national median weekly rent increase of 5.3 per cent.
While Southland rental prices have increased, they still remain much cheaper than the national average of $495 per week.
Those on the ground renting out the properties see first hand the scrap that is brewing as renters try to find a place to live in Southland.
Pride Property chief executive Avinash Varghese said tenants had been voicing their anger at the price hikes, but the reality was the Southland rentals were being snapped as quickly as they were advertised.
‘‘My advice would be if you can buy a house then go for it,’’ he said, warning of the rental squeeze.
His theory on Southland’s decrease in rental availability was it had been prompted by firsthome buyers tapping into their KiwiSaver.
‘‘Those people who started out in KiwiSaver are now buying. So couples who might have been renting with three or four other people are now buying their own homes and living in them by themselves.
‘‘There are less rentals out there now.’’
Included in the increase in rental payments was new insulation requirements handed down by the Government, as well as general maintenance, Varghese said.
Varghese believed renters generally expected more now than previously, right down to having a modern kitchen. Those costs were being passed on to renters.
The rental squeeze was not restricted to Southland’s most populated area, Invercargill.
Sharon Wenlock, a senior property manager with Harcourts in Gore, said the rental market was in ‘‘dire straits’’ in the Eastern Southland area.
Wenlock said they had one property in Mataura available and one other in Gore.
Other agencies were in a similar situation, she said.
‘‘You go to a viewing now and there will be five or six people there. For a small town like Gore that is a lot,’’ she said.
Te Anau has its own housing problems, although PGG Wrightson property manager MJ Moffat said the lakeside town’s situation was unique.
Te Anau’s peak season is between August and March when seasonal workers are in town catering for the tourism industry.
During that time the rental market was put under pressure, however, in the winter months
there was a lot more available, Moffat said.
The rental dilemma was part of a wider Southland housing problem, which various provincial leaders have declared a crisis.
A Southland Action Housing Group was setup last year in an attempt to look at ways to address the problem.
In November last year, the group, led by SBS Bank chief executive Shaun Drylie, produced their numbers to highlight the extent of the problem. It stated 140 homes were needed throughout Southland right now in the emergency, transitional and state housing area.
A further 2600-plus houses were needed during the next 12 months to fill the general housing gap, with more than 480 houses required every year after that for five years just to deal with population growth.