Housing crisis? Flat life continues on
Demand is high for student rental accommodation in Palmerston North but the city remains an accessible option for university flatters.
Students in the larger centres like Wellington are facing a shortage of houses and high rents.
Manawatu¯ Tenants’ Union coordinator Ben Schmidt said the housing crisis was affecting students in Palmerston North as much as anywhere else.
Though competition at flat viewings was fierce, there were enough armchairs on the porches and bottles in the windows to suggest the uni flat experience remained an attainable rite-of-passage for many.
Evawooller, 19, Emma Varcoe, 19, Tannah Laurent, 19, and Jolie Coleman, 19, have moved into a flat in the heart of the student precinct, in Ada St, for their first time flatting.
They had earlier turned down two flats they were offered because they were not what they wanted.
At one flat viewing, they were competing with 60 other groups.
‘‘We were applying for every one we saw that would have been OK,’’ Laurent said. ‘‘We did not know what it was going to be like.’’
They pay $480 a week for the fourbedroom flat, and they are happy with the cost and the condition of the house.
Varcoe said a friend in Hawke’s Bay was paying more than $200 a week in rent.
Nearby in Marne St, first-year flatters Harry Finch, 19, Sam Sherriff, 19, and Edwinwills, 18, live in a seven-bedroom house. Finch said connections had been crucial in snaring the house. A flatmate’s sister had asked her landlord to help them find somewhere.
They were able to get an early jump on other flat hunters.
Being a large group of males had not hindered them but they had heard of it happening to others.
‘‘You can spin a good enough yarn and come across as presentable like us,’’ Finch said.
They pay $135 a week each, $945 total, and they are pleased with the price and central location.
Massey University Students’ Association president Fatima Imran said though the quantity of rentals available to the student market in Palmerston North was not as concerning as in larger cities, quality was a constant struggle.
Houses often were not great, but they were affordable, at $110 to $140 a week per room, and were quickly snapped up.
‘‘Compared with other universities and students across New Zealand, it is more affordable for an average student but the quality we are receiving is the same [as other areas] unless we get really lucky,’’ Imran said. Two years ago it took her and her friends four months of searching before being offered a flat, which they accepted because they had no other options. It had mould and no insulation or heating.
Imran said there was always a lot of stress near the end of the second semester as students had the double stress of looming exams and locking down a home for the following year.
The students’ association owns about 30 flats, which cost $100 to $115 per tenant.