Northland's rent hike one of the highest among regions -Report

Annual rent rise in Northland of nearly 13 per cent is among the highest in the country, according to a Massey University report. Photo / Michael Cunningham

Northland saw one of the highest hikes in annual rents in the country, prompting a mother to warn escalating rent increases is tearing families apart and pushing them more into poverty.

Massey University's residential market report shows a 12.8 per cent increase in rents in Northland between June 2020 and the same month this year, from $399 to $450 per week.

Only three regions - Hawke's Bay (20.4 per cent), Bay of Plenty (16.4 per cent) and Manawatū-Whanganui (14.2 per cent) - recorded increases higher than Northland over the same period.

Auckland and Wellington showed a moderate increase of 3.4 per cent and 7.8 per cent respectively for the year.

In Northland, rents rose from $425 in March to $450 in June.

Both national and regional affordability have been calculated by dividing the average weekly wages into the geometric mean rents for June 2021.

The university said geometric mean rents were used as a better measure of rental trends than median and average rents because rents at the top end of the market were down weighted.

For example, take three numbers two, three and six.

The average is 3.66, the median is three and the geometric mean is 3.3. To calculate the geometric, multiply the three numbers together and then calculate the cubed root.

A Moerewa-based woman, who wished to remain anonymous, said her son and his partner have been looking for a rental accommodation in the Mid North for the last two years finding one even in areas where she lived was impossible.

They had to move out after the house the couple had rented for 17 years was sold two years ago.

"His partner now stays with her mum, he stays with a mate and I don't know how long they can afford to live like this. That's what rising rents have done up here— separated families. The stress of finding a place to rent is just too much to bear."

Her son drives a truck six days a week and travels as far as Tauranga and, she said, despite being a non-drinker and a non-smoker, he still could not secure a rental property.

"Rent rise is just ridiculous, especially during Covid which has become an excuse to push rents up. It's not because people don't have a job, it's because rents are so high that at the end of the day, they have next to nothing left to survive on.

"That's why there is more child poverty, high suicide, stress, marriage breakdowns, and the like. There are so many young families in particular that are struggling to find rental accommodation. It's ridiculous. Something's gotta change.

"The Government says, get off the dole but my son isn't on the dole and so are many others. They are all working and working and are tired but they just can't afford the ever-rising rents up here," she said.

Report co-author Professor Graham Squires listed a number of policy and market considerations that impacted on rent increases in Northland, as with other regions.

"There's a lot of spillover effects from Auckland into the non-core employment regions like Northland where people can work remotely.

"There's also been an exponential increase in house prices and that's having a feed through into the rental market. Macroprudential policies and further policies like healthy homes have all contributed to an increase in rents," he said.

Liz Cassidy-Nelson says the situation is really depressing for many families struggling to find rental accommodation in Northland. Photo / Tania Whyte

One Double Five Community House chief executive Liz Cassidy-Nelson said the university's figures on Northland didn't come as a surprise given the huge number of families struggling to find suitable rental accommodation.

"Not only are the rents rising but the cost of housing as well. Both go hand in hand. There tends to be a mismatch in the rental amount people are willing to pay and the rate Work and Income is paying.

"The situation is really depressing. Then there are coastal areas where holiday baches are all shut up which is frustrating in a housing crisis," she said.

According to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, there were 1104 Northlanders on the public housing register at the end of the September quarter.

Northland was among five regions that experienced the highest percentage increase in the housing register compared to the September quarter 2020.

Figures show 252 more people who were on the housing register in September this year than they were at the end of the same quarter in 2020.

The Ministry of Social Development approved $1 million in emergency housing special needs grants in Northland in the September quarter.

Nearly 2000 people in Northland were in public housing and a further 214 in transitional housing at the end of September.