Nelson rental woes drive couple to Christchurch
A Nelson renter was forced to moved to Christchurch after missing out on 42 properties.
It comes as the cost of a rental has risen 7.3% year-onyear in that region, and property managers are reporting demand outstripping supply – all while investors are exiting the market due to rising costs.
Trade Me data shows the rental price index for Nelson-Tasman in March was $590, up 7.3% from $550 in March 2023.
Kayla Bafico knows first-hand the struggle to find a property in the Nelson region, after she and her wife were left homeless while trying to find a rental, racking up 42 rejections – and those were the ones they heard back from.
“It’s exhausting, its stressful and it makes you want to stop going forward,” she said.
They needed to find a property after their private landlord wanted to move back in.
The couple were both employed with good references, but still couldn’t find a house for themselves and their three children who lived with them part-time.
The competition was fierce, and many landlords seemed unwilling to rent to people with children, she said.
Many of the properties were managed under a local monopoly, which made it hard to get a foot in the door. “You’ve got to know someone to know someone to get in somewhere.”
The couple’s income was too high to qualify for welfare assistance, so they ended up homeless, living on people’s couches or in their car.
That led them to move to Christchurch. They started looking on a Monday and had a house by the Friday.
Properties in Christchurch were much more affordable and allowed their cats, she said.
Bayleys residential property manager Rob Vining said the lack of stock in the Nelson region was driving up the price for rentals, along with the rising cost of owning an investment property.
Immigration and people moving to Nelson from other parts of New Zealand was also adding to the competition for rentals.
Many investors were selling up, as the cost of owning and maintaining properties increased, he said.
“A lot of the are saying I’m better off not having the stress or the worry.”