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The modest two-bedroom flat tucked away behind Wellington Hospital is nothing spectacular, but that hasn't stopped it getting thousands of views and over 100 inquiries online.
Our daughter rents with others in Thorndon it’s a 4 bedroom semi detached they have had a rent rise of $170 a week which means she will have an increase of $45 a week for her bedroom.
Our daughter rents with others in Thorndon it’s a 4 bedroom semi detached they have had a rent rise of $170 a week which means she will have an increase of $45 a week for her bedroom.
rents all over the city are on the rise. $170/wk in thorndon doesn't sound out of line with other locations. The cost of insurance, rates etc are rising fast, add to that the increased costs that have been legislated and the increased risks forced by TT interpretation of the Tenancies act - increased costs will be passed on to the end user and increased risks require increased returns.
I have a Spark cellphone account.
My tablet is linked to this account under the option "Data Only Sharing".
Recently I received notice from Spark that the cost of this option is increasing from $5.99 per moth to $9.99 per month "after a recent review" (no other reason given).
That represents a 66.7% increase - but I don't see questions in parliament or people screeching on Facebook about this massive increase by Spark.
I guess in a lot of respects, most other costs (your Spark account aside) are going down. Clothing is a lot cheaper than it used to be, food is a much smaller proportion of the household budget than it used to be. Electronic goods, cars and most things are either not increasing in cost or going down. Inflation is like 1 to 3% pa.
Incomes have been fairly static, and many people say that they are in fact less than they were in the 1970s.
But housing costs have gone through the roof. And so I can sort of see where the anger comes from.
Our daughter rents with others in Thorndon it’s a 4 bedroom semi detached they have had a rent rise of $170 a week which means she will have an increase of $45 a week for her bedroom.
What was the previous rent? No need to answer that, but making the point that an increase may be coming off a (too) low base.
How does the new rent compare to other comparable places? If substantially above market rent there is the Tenancy Tribunal.
I posted this message to stuff on this article and they rejected it.
I have just posted out rent increase letters to 20 out of 25 rentals.
The chosen level is below the market rate. One tenant has already said that the increase is reasonable.
The rent increase date accidently occurs the same day as the accommodation Supplement AS goes up.
I just figure that I better get in and issue my rent increases now whilst I still can. I fear that some costs will go up more than I can absorb.
I checked the AS rate increases. The formula appears to be hidden (for reasons?)but they have a tool box you can enter figures like income, rent, matrimonial status and so on in. It appears that couples are going to get a healthy increase. Like more than my rent increases by a country mile. But tenants living alone will get about $5 (less than my average $20 increases) and anyone on Government Super will get less AS?
That's pretty common. One of mine was under-rent by about $100 last year because it was let in May. Up to normal now.
The WCC has got big problems. Huge turnover under the new mayor (surprise surprise) and consent applications are being severely delayed. New people join and want to make an impact and that is usually by "having their say" in projects - so a lot of RC applications are stuck or being declined. Word on the street is that people are demoralized.
In the meantime investors have gone quietish, my mate just picked up an 8% GY flat opposite the university. Mad times.
A well balanced item on the wireless this afternoon - The squeeze for rentals in Wellington. Interviewed were:
1. Grant Gilford, VC of Vic Uni. "Unhappy about rent auctions' and said the university is quite prepared to intervene if there is evidence of ongoing gouging by landlords.
2. Nicky, a tenant. Reform of the RTA and giving tenants more security has to be a good thing. Need legislation to stop bidding up of rent.
3. Shamubeel Eaqub. Need more supply, but it will take a while. Anyway, he said, the housing market is fundamentally broken, we simply cannot house our people.
OK not so well balanced then. No landlords. No politicians.
Mr Robertson on the wireless this morning. He invited students unhappy about rent increases to contact him and had dozens of responses within a few hours. He committed to investigate and take action if these rents are not in line with market rents or breach the RTA.
Did Mr Robertson ever come back with an update about what he found and what he was going to do?
Or did it turn out to be just some unhappy students having a reality check?
A well balanced item on the wireless this afternoon - The squeeze for rentals in Wellington. Interviewed were:
1. Grant Gilford, VC of Vic Uni. "Unhappy about rent auctions' and said the university is quite prepared to intervene if there is evidence of ongoing gouging by landlords.
2. Nicky, a tenant. Reform of the RTA and giving tenants more security has to be a good thing. Need legislation to stop bidding up of rent.
3. Shamubeel Eaqub. Need more supply, but it will take a while. Anyway, he said, the housing market is fundamentally broken, we simply cannot house our people.
OK not so well balanced then. No landlords. No politicians.
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