Nowhere to call home for some in Queenstown Lakes
A new survey has found 133 people in the Queenstown Lakes District don’t have a house to live in.
The 2024 Renters Survey was undertaken by the Queenstown Lakes Community Housing Trust across the district, which includes Queenstown and Wānaka, during summer.
Of the 950 “useable” responses, 9% said they were house-less, but once partners and children were included that increased to 14%, or 133 people.
Researcher Katherine Davies said 20% of those who were house-less had children and this was having a significant impact on their wellbeing.
Another 17% of respondents had been house-less in the previous year.
It also found more renters in Wānaka have been house-less than in Queenstown.
The district is one of the least affordable in New Zealand and has a long-standing housing shortage.
In the last year there have been many stories of people living in cars and camping grounds, but little data available to quantify the issue.
Survey respondents said they were left without a house to live in due to properties being sold, converted to short-term visitor accommodation such as Airbnb, or the landlord moving back in.
Many said that accessing showers and laundries negatively impacted their daily lives and getting adequate sleep was a common problem.
Diet was listed as a problem due to a lack of food storage and cooking facilities.
The results showed high levels of chronic and situational stress, Davies said.
Other barriers to having a house to live in included affordability (76%) and availability (79%).
Davies said the data suggested high levels of residual stress in the population, due to a lack of certainty regarding length of lease and rental costs. “The very real struggle of those who are currently house-less is having a ripple effect on the wellbeing of renters through what is described as houselessness anxiety.
“That is a feeling of a lack of control over lease renewals or rent increases, coupled with competition for available and affordable properties, that could leave them house-less.”
Median rents in the district were between $501 and $600 per week, she said.
Given the general rule that household costs should be no more than 28% of annual household income, those renting would need to earn more than $111,000 per annum to afford the median rent in the district, she said.
Currently, only 30% of respondents could afford the median rent.
In terms of income, 28% of renters said their household earned between $50,000 and $74,999 annually.
About 15% of households earned under $50,000 a year, while 30% earned more than $108,000.
The Queenstown Lakes Community Housing Trust works with national and local governments to provide secure housing in the district.
In the last 17 years it has housed 279 households and has an ambitious target of 1000 more households by 2038.