Rent freeze -or rent gouging in Chch?

[Wayne]

I think 150% is probably a bit much really. But what sort of increase would be considered acceptable I wonder?

[speights boy]

I think 150% is probably a bit much really. But what sort of increase would be considered acceptable I wonder?

Glad to see you think its probably a bit much.

When you look Bonnie in the eye and tell her pay up or move out; just how much extra are you going to tell her to pay ?
Pick a figure between 0 and 250 pw.

Woman with broken back crawled out of the rubble

Her back and neck were broken in seven places, but Bonnie Singh could only focus on one thing - getting out of the building that had collapsed around her.
The 28-year-old was working at the Southern Ink Tattoo studio on Colombo St when the earthquake struck. She and colleague Matti McEachen tried to escape, but only Ms Singh made it out alive.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10711258

[Wayne]

Have I missed something? What has the injuries to a particular person (bad as they are) got to do with rents? Are you saying that rents should be reduced or charged according to the extent of physical injury?

[speights boy]

What I am saying is that those in the supply side, whether it be housing, local diary, portaloos, water, tarpaulins etc just sit on their hands a while.

Many people in ChCh are suffering all sorts of trauma, and a little bit of empathy is needed before raising prices

[Wayne]

I was not saying that empathy isn't needed - just wondering what people think would be acceptable. There will be people about to rent out property now that are wondering the same question.

[Perry]

Is this not simply a matter of supply and demand?

The DBH has a definition of market rent.

Market rent is described (in the Residential Tenancies Act) as what a
willing landlord might reasonably expect to receive, and a willing
tenant might reasonably expect to pay for the tenancy, in comparison
with rent levels for similar properties in similar areas.

Note well the last line and the word 'willing.'

Doubtless the Council & Parker will lead the way
by reducing the city's Rates for a while. And then
only on the properties that are tenable. Those
that are a write-off can expect no Rate demands,
right? Maybe even a refund?

[One]

The ads on trademe for Hoon Hay have a couple of places up about 15% but most are at pre-quake prices.

We were about to send our tenants a rent increase notice and are now holding off for another month or so, just to avoid adding stress to them.

Be nice if the media would do an article about non-gouging landlords!

I'd say 10% rise is fair enough, assuming the place has facilities and isn't (much) damaged.

[speights boy]

Good to see One.
Exactly what I ment by sitting on your hands a while.

The ONLY reason a lot of us are paying less on our mortgages today is because of the suffering in ChCh.

Just because you can increase, doesn't mean you should . In the short term anyway.

Wayne. I apologise if I sounded harsh..didn't really mean to.
Just expecting a bit more of a condemnation of the reported 150%.
Personally I don't believe it, but even if it was ment as 50% increase, that is outrageous enough.

cheers
SB

[DazRaz]

I had thought this was more of a problem with commercial leases rather than rents for dwellings. Haven't seen rents move much at all whereas business trying to find new premises are getting screwed.

[Choc]

They interviewed a Canterbury Real Estate Agent on the radio yesterday. He said there are more businesses wanting premises than are currently available. He said prospective tenants are driving the increases (not landlords) by bidding up what is available in an attempt to obtain the place.

His other observation was that many premises had sat vacant on the out skirts of Chch for a year or more. Holding costs might be considerable in some cases.

The suffering can't be overlooked but this is the business market and I think supply and demand should certainly play a part.

[Wayne]

Just expecting a bit more of a condemnation of the reported 150%.
Personally I don't believe it, but even if it was ment as 50% increase, that is outrageous enough.

media never let the real truth get in the way of a good story. One rain drop does not make a downpour!

[Wayne]

I had thought this was more of a problem with commercial leases rather than rents for dwellings. Haven't seen rents move much at all whereas business trying to find new premises are getting screwed.

Commercial - these buildings must have been vacant before the owner was able to 'screw' the new tenant. No one complained about the 2 years the owner ad no rent. As a person who has just tenanted a commercial for half what it was getting I don't see the media going on about the tenant screwing me? That is just the way it is in the real world.

[DazRaz]

Hey, who am I to condemn profiteering from a natural disaster? No doubt it is the way of the "real world". The media pick up on the word "Landlords" and assume that it is displaced citizens paying inflated rents.

I just hope that not too many business fold because they can't afford to sign up 7 year leases for inflated prices when they only need premises for 6 months to a year. It's a lot of peoples jobs on the line and we all pay if they end up on the dole.

[Orkibi]

'Malicious' rent hike reports dimissed by landlords

'Malicious' rent hike reports dimissed by landlords

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New Zealand Property Investors Federation president Martin Evans Photo / supplied



Reports some landlords are hiking rents by as much as 150 per cent have been dismissed by the New Zealand Property Investors Federation as a malicious attempt to pressure the government into capping rent rises.
Christchurch mayor Bob Parker accused landlords who hiked rents of "looting by another name" last week after reports emerged that some were ramping up rents in a city where many people have been left homeless by last month's earthquake.
He said there was not much the council could do about it, but the Government might be able to look at some form of control.
Federation president and Christchurch property manager Martin Evans said he had not heard of anyone taking advantage of the earthquake with large rent increases.
"We don't know where these claims of 150 per cent rent increases have come from.


"It is malicious to make these claims in order to influence Government in an attempt to have rent controls imposed," said Evans.

Figures from TradeMe show Christchurch rental property listings fell 22 per cent on the Friday after the earthquake, and a further 12 per cent the following week, but have since increased by 18 per cent.


TradeMe's property manger Brendan Skipper said as of today there are 1045 rental properties advertised on the site.
Labour deputy leader Annette King said this week limiting increases in rents in Christchurch would stop residents being hit by profiteering landlords, but Skipper said he had not seen any evidence of such increases in Canterbury since the quake.


Evans said rental property providers were facing huge losses even if their properties were sound, because of the number of "nervous tenants" who were abandoning their homes following the earthquake.


"Tenants are leaving without telling us," Evans said adding that he only finds out when the tenant stops paying.


Compounding the problem for landlords and tenants was that the Department of Building and Housing office and the Tenancy Tribunal in Christchurch were not yet open, Evans said.
"We can't get eviction orders when properties are abandoned at a critical time when others are desperate for a rental property because their own home is uninhabitable.


"Given the extreme situation, we are forced to take matters into our own hands just to help people get housed and to stop our owners from losing any more money," Evans said.


- Susie Nordqvist

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10711673

[Baby Boomer]

But won't profiteering be the norm with the rebuilding about to take place over the next 15 years anyway? The contractors will be making profits but landlords are not supposed to? The projected figures on the rebuild are getting higher by the day. Aren't people supposed to make hay while the sun shines?

Perhaps in these early days, the idea of profiteering is distasteful. It could be that people with empty commercial premises might be wise to stay empty until sentiment subsides and normal business starts to kick in again.