Regional rents run ‘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, and 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.
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.’’
A high proportion of people on the register were living in accommodation unsuitable on a longterm basis, Whitewood said.
Hawke’s Bay’s branch manager for Oxygen property, Jamie Richardson, said the region’s situation had been ‘‘pretty bad’’ for a while.
People didn’t understand rents were ‘‘snow-balling’’ outside of main centres like Auckland and Wellington. ‘‘It’s out of sight, out of mind. If you don’t live in a big city, everything seems like it’s cheaper.’’
Oxygen had about five current listings in Hawke’s Bay and for those Richardson received in excess of 20 applications for each.
Trade Me’s head of rentals Aaron Clancy said Hawke’s Bay rents had been rising as more people moved there.
Thomson, who lives with her 14-year-old son Jack, runs a koha shed out of her home to give back to the homeless. A breast cancer survivor, who has also undergone a major knee surgery, Thomson said she’s thankful her previous landlord, who decided to renovate and sell, let the pair stay on while she looked for a new property.
If you don’t live in a big city, everything seems like it’s cheaper.’’ Jamie Richardson