Rental market tough for mum, daughter and pets
Sure, you can sell or give away your clutter, but don’t just replace it with more. After all, the downsizing movement highlights the joy of spending on experiences, not possessions.
There’s nothing like moving house to highlight the disadvantages of having too much stuff. Coming from a long line of hoarders as I do, my own cupboards, shelves and wardrobes have been carefully packed to hold several times more than they were designed for. This strategy works well when you spend a long time in one place, but when I recently moved, the packers bemoaned the fact that one kitchen cupboard in particular was like a Tardis – it spewed forth a neverending supply of old crockery that hadn’t been used in years and took forever to carefully wrap and box up.
But now the minimalist revolution is here.
Tiny homes, tidying expert Marie Kondo, the FIRE movement (Financial Independence, Retire Early) are all taking the world by storm and have at their core a minimalist approach. It is no longer okay to keep things for the memories, or just in case you might need them one day. The current wisdom is that, without stuff, you have a sense of freedom, release from the past, more time to enjoy life (less time spent tidying and cleaning) and more money. The drive to accumulate stuff is no doubt rooted in times of scarcity and poverty, when owning things of value was a mark of status. It wasn’t enough to just own things of value – it was also important to display them in cabinets and on walls for all the world to see. Some stuff was revered so much it was handed down from one generation to the next to be treasured and displayed, but never really used. It is clear that having stuff meets psychological needs – for status, recognition and emotional security.
There is also an underlying belief that to throw stuff out is wasteful, especially in a society that is concerned with the amount of garbage it produces. There must surely be a limit on how much can be recycled through charity shops and waste recycling plants. The real problem lies not in how much we keep or throw away but in how much is manufactured and sold.
The global economy depends on people buying more stuff. If we all become minimalist what happens to economic growth? Probably not a lot, because emerging economies such as China and India still have a lot of catching up to do. The stuff problem is very much an affluent society affliction.
There are obvious financial benefits which flow from a minimalist lifestyle.–
❚ Spending less on stuff offers the potential to stay out of debt and save more.
❚ It costs money to keep stuff – in terms of storing it and maintaining it.
❚ Stuff can be sold for a tidy profit.
❚ With less need for stuff you don’t need as much income to cover your outgoings. That means you are better able to survive unexpected events such as redundancy or ill health without going into debt, and you are able to retire earlier – firstly because you can save more quickly for your retirement and secondly because you won’t need as much for your retirement.
To get these financial benefits, you need to do more than just declutter. Minimalism is about buying less, not just keeping less. Continually buying lots of new stuff and throwing out lots of old stuff is being wasteful rather than minimalist. The art of minimalism lies in buying as little as possible and being resourceful to make the most of what you have.
For Marie Kondo, the key to tidying up is to keep only those items which spark joy. Life surely is all about finding joy and it needs to be lasting. The joy that comes from buying stuff is fleeting, whereas research shows that experiences such as travel, adventures and sporting achievements bring long-lasting joy without cluttering your cupboards.
Apparently the psychological effects of removing clutter can be quite profound. Attachment to stuff creates a blockage of mental energy which can take your life in new directions when it is unleashed.
With a new house and an opportunity to put into it only the things which spark joy, I am about to put this theory to the test.
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Carla Brosnan is running out of time to find a home for herself and her mother. It isn’t how the Hamiltonian expected her life to end up. Five years ago, the now 43-year-old was a self-employed IT consultant, working on projects in Australia and New Zealand and earning $200,000 a year.
Then, in August 2014, she was diagnosed with a rare neurological condition, idiopathic intracranial hypertension, which causes the symptoms of a brain tumour.
There is no guaranteed treatment plan or cure. She had personal insurance policies but was turned down for her claim, a decision she is still fighting. In May 2015, she had to give up work.
Now Brosnan is on a supported living payment and disability benefit, receiving $300 a week, and she’s stuck navigating a tight rental market, which is putting pressure on tenants around the country trying to find homes.
It was reported last week that rental inflation is running at a 10-year high across New Zealand. University towns are bracing for a surge of applicants as students return for the new year.
In Hamilton, the median rent in November on Trade Me was $420, up 5 per cent year-on-year.
Brosnan says she’s experienced the brunt of that.
She was forced to sell her house after withdrawing her KiwiSaver and getting into debt when she could no longer work.
In October 2017, she and her mother moved into their current rental property.
‘‘We were left with terrible credit ratings but all debt was paid off, credit cards cancelled and no new credit facilities have been applied for, and we have a nice amount of savings in the bank. There was a very short settlement period to the sale of the house and as a result we took the first rental property we were offered.’’
But that property was a twostorey unit, with all the bedrooms and bathrooms on the second level.
Her health deteriorating, it is no longer practical for her to live there because it is difficult for her to manage stairs.
When the owner suggested the rent would increase from $460 a week to $510 when the lease comes up for renewal, they opted not to agree to a new fixed term.
‘‘Although we have been looking frantically for a new home we have 25 days until February 11 when our lease expires and we still haven’t found anywhere.’’
So far, it’s been impossible to find a single-storey property with a large shower that will accommodate a shower chair and be suitable for a cat and two small dogs.
The cat has been with her for 18 years and the dogs are 12 and 10.
‘‘At viewings we always make sure we talk to the owner or property manager to try and make ourselves stand out from the crowd. The fact I’m using a walker should help with that, too. Along with our application I also send a letter outlining the reason for our bad credit rating and providing them with a bank balance to show we have the money to pay the rent. I also include photos of our pets and details of their ages to show they aren’t kittens/puppies and advise they are fully toilet trained.
‘‘But we aren’t even getting reference-checked, and we have excellent references. Our current property manager raves how we have kept a brand-new property looking brand new, even with three pets, and of course we have never missed a rent payment.
‘‘There are properties that we have applied for that we have not been reference-checked on that are still on offer, where someone has made the decision they would literally rather see them be left empty and receive no income from them than rent them to us without even doing a reference check.’’
Brosnan said government moves to encourage landlords to consider people with pets were unlikely to help. When there was strong demand from tenants, property owners would still choose those who did not have them, she said.
‘‘Mum’s a retiree, only on super and I’m a beneficiary. That never looks good. It doesn’t matter that we’ve got savings in the bank and are financially sound.’’
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson said it was a concern.
‘‘[Stories like these] demonstrate our rental market is increasingly leaving the most vulnerable behind.
‘‘We support higher accessibility standards for private rentals, as well as increasing the number of fully accessible state houses available for people with disabilities.’’