Caught in a rental crisis
A man who, after two months of rental rejections, offered to pay potential landlords $30,000 upfront.
A Rotorua couple so desperate for a rental they pay more than they can afford and “are broke all the time”.
AA working mum with great references afraid she will end up in emergency housing after her landlord gave notice he had decided to move back in - forcing her out. trapped in A migrant family from South Africa soon. Tauranga who fear they could be homeless
These are the stories of those caught inside the Bay of Plenty’s grinding housing crisis. Carmen Hall reports
fter two months of rental rejections, a Tauranga man offered potential landlords $30,000 upfront — and had six bites within an hour.
The former Wellingtonian, who did not want to be named, moved for work and put an ad on Trade Me offering to pay a year upfront for a house he had missed out on — it was taken down within an hour of being listed.
However, his offer attracted a flurry of replies from interested landlords.
“I said I’ll pay a year in advance: That is the power of cash.”
He had been holed up in motels while searching for a home.
“I was getting frustrated, it was a difficult time for me emotionally. Now I love my place, which is close to the beach.”
It is just one of the bold moves people are making as competition for homes heats up.
Others are facing heartbreak, homelessness, and financial hardship as the rental crisis deepens in the Bay of Plenty’s cities, Tauranga and Rotorua.
The latest data from Trade Me reveals median rental costs in Tauranga jumped $8140 between March 2016 and March 2021, or from $440 a week to $595.
In Rotorua, it increased by $9880, or from $300 to $490 a week, in the same period.
Throughout the Bay, the Government spent $2.9 million a week on accommodation supplements in the last quarter of the financial year.
Tauranga Rentals owner Dan Lusby said one of his landlords was offered six months in advance — $21,600 — and took it.
Some tenants were also offering more than the advertised rent and Lusby said it was the tightest he had seen the market.
“We’ve got three properties on our board at the moment and last month we only had three to rent. People are too scared to move and are staying put in case they can’t find anywhere else.”
Despondent tenants were also living in overcrowded houses.
‘Always . . . broke’
Every week Renae Hapeta and her partner are broke.
However, the chef and concrete worker are grateful they’re not homeless or relying on family and friends.
Hapeta, 21, said they struggled for two years to find a home in Rotorua.
“It was only because of a family friend that we are in a house right now but the search is tough. You apply for everything, and it seems our age and our dog didn’t suit what they were looking for.
“Then there were other situations when we were almost successful but then a desperate family would come along and get the house, but we didn’t mind because homing a family is more important.”
She says their three-bedroom home was $420 a week and they had applied for hundreds of homes.
“We pay a lot for this house, it’s really expensive. Our choice is to keep this house and always be broke and just scraping by or continue the unsuccessful smaller house hunt or be homeless.”
A Tauranga mother of one, who asked not to be named as she feared it would embarrass her daughter, said she “demoralised” by her rental search.
She works full-time in the public sector and has great references but the clock is ticking: She has one month to find a new home before her landlord moves back in. She pays $400 a week for the two-bedroom unit and has hopes of getting a four-bedroom home and possibly share with another single parent — those rents were likely to be $700 upwards.
“The prices are ridiculously high for what you get and it is incredibly hard to find a rental in Tauranga. My daughter and I are losing a lot of sleep and it’s very stressful.” Her worst-case scenario would be moving into emergency or transitional housing.
“I refuse to live in a car with my child but I have seen people on Facebook who have been stuck in transitional housing for months or years.”
She also worried about exposing her daughter to family harm or drug and alcoholaddiction scenarios in social housing. felt
‘It feels like we live weekto-week’
Patrizia Eleftheriou is worried about where her family of five will live after their landlord sells the home they are in.
The South African says her husband is a carpenter and she works part-time as a cosmetic tattooist but it has been an uphill battle finding another rental.
The competition was fierce and when they