Students fighting for pricey new digs

Rental property demand soars

Stiff competition and soaring rents are greeting Wellington university students looking for somewhere to live before lectures begin.

Demand for rental properties in the capital soared in 2016, and rents jumped 9.5 per cent from November 2015 to November 2016, Trade Me figures showed.

For students looking for a home in the capital, that meant hundreds of people ‘‘pouring through’’ flat inspections despite it only being mid-January, Victoria University student Byron Oosthuizen said.

The third-year student had two weeks left to find a new flat, after being told by his landlord the lease on his current flat would not be renewed at the beginning of January.

They were looking to live in Newtown, Mt Cook, or Mt Victoria. Oosthuizen said they would look at suburbs further out, but that would mean they would have to factor in the price of public transport.

He had stayed on at the viewing of a small flat recently, and said about 100 people must have gone through.

‘‘People were just absolutely pouring through, the place was quite small, and you only have a 10-minute window to go in.’’

It was so competitive Oosthuizen questioned how a landlord could choose the best group to move in.

Price wise, he reckoned a room that cost $170 this time last year was now at $175, or $180. Landlords were putting up rent simply because they could.

‘‘There’s no increase in quality or anything, just more people looking.’’

Victoria University Wellington Student Association (VUWSA) president Rory Lenihan-Ikin said about a dozen concerned students had contacted him in the past week.

‘‘They were asking for advice, saying they’re finding it really hard to get a flat.’’

He said the fight to find a flat had started earlier this year, and was likely to get worse as more students returned.

‘‘Compared to previous years people are coming back [to Wellington] earlier, they feel they need to in order to secure something.’’

That rents had increased on flats was only adding to the stress, and was putting pressure on already tight student budgets.

‘‘Our food bank usage climbed 32 per cent in 2016 alone, that reflects the impact rent increases are having on students.’’

According to Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment figures the median rent for a threebedroom house in Mt Cook was $650, while Mt Victoria was $675. In Kelburn/Aro Valley a fourbedroom flat went for $620.

A peak in rent was expected in January, head of Trade Me property Nigel Jeffries said.

Listings of rental properties on the website were consistent throughout the year, but there was a spike in demand from tenants in summer.

This was usually beginning in January when leases were renewed and university students started to look for their new flats.