As anticipated, $30 to $50 rent raise all across NZ! In most cases, rent raise will be more than the letting fee payout! Taxing on the tenants
Renters are spending an average of $30 more on rent each week compared to a year ago, with the National Party blaming Government policies that are hitting landlords.
But Housing and Urban Development Minister Phil Twyford says rents are driven by supply and demand, not landlord costs, and pointed the finger at the previous National Government.
In some regions such as Wellington, figures from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment show that rents have jumped by nearly $50 a week compared to a year ago, meaning tenants are paying close to $2600 more a year in living costs.
The National Party says it is a far greater rate of increase than under the previous Government, when rents rose by an average of $13 a year.
“This Government prides itself on being kind, but these rent rises will really be hurting people, especially at the bottom,” leader Simon Bridges said.
When the government changed last year, the mean weekly rent in Auckland was $536. It has now jumped to $555.
But the biggest rent rises are in Wellington, Hawke’s Bay, and Manawatu-Whanganui, where rents rose by just under $50 in the last year. In National’s nine years in charge, rents rose by an average of between $6 and $10 a year in these spots.
Rents rose at a greater rate in all regions except Northland and Christchurch in the past year compared to when National was in charge.
Bridges blamed a series of Government policies which penalised landlords.
The Government has banned foreign buyers, introduced stricter standards for insulation and heating, got rid of “loss ring fencing” for landlords, and extended the period which investors have to pay tax on resold properties from two years to five years after purchase.
Source: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12161903