‘Tough time for renters’: Hawke’s Bay among most expensive in country for rent

Hawke’s Bay reached a record-breaking median weekly rent of $625. Photo / Warren Buckland

Hawke’s Bay has seen one of the biggest average rental price increases over the past year, according to data released by Trade Me Property.

The latest Trade Me Rental Price Index released on Friday shows only Auckland ($650), Wellington ($650) and Bay of Plenty ($640) have a higher average weekly rental price than Hawke’s Bay ($625).

The lowest average weekly rental price in the country is in Southland ($430).

According to the data, Hawke’s Bay has seen an average weekly rental price increase of 10.6 per cent between March 2022 and March 2023, with an increase of roughly $60.

Only Taranaki had a steeper increase in average weekly rental prices (a 13.2 per cent jump).

“Tenants are continuing to fork out more for rent, and when we couple that with the increasing cost of grocery bills and other daily expenses, it’s a tough time for renters in Aotearoa,” Trade Me Property sales director Gavin Lloyd said, of nationwide rental increases.

Graphic showing the average increase in rental prices. Image / Supplied

It comes as Cyclone Gabrielle has compounded the ongoing rental crisis in Hawke’s Bay.

A rental property manager recently told Hawke’s Bay Today it was not unusual to get more than 60 applications and inquiries for an advertised rental in the region, and things had worsened after the cyclone due to many homes being damaged.

“It has certainly put more pressure on what was already a short [rental] market,” Quinovic Property Management principal Ross Davidson said.

Earlier this week, National announced plans to scrap rental laws introduced by Labour, if elected.

Under National, landlords would once again be able to evict tenants without cause.

National Party housing spokesman Chris Bishop said they would reverse Labour’s removal of no-cause terminations, and the provisions that have fixed-term tenancies roll into periodic tenancies in most cases, among other changes.

Both were introduced in 2020 under the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act.

Bishop said those moves by Labour may have been well intentioned, but had “backfired badly, discouraging landlords from offering their properties up for rent”.

However, Tukituki Labour MP Anna Lorck hit back and said, “this is one of the coldest, backward policies I’ve seen”.

“Renters, many who are working families, need security and certainty that they will not be told to leave the home they are renting with no genuine reason.”