Rotorua Daily Post
  • Rotorua Daily Post home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Residential property listings
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Rural
  • Sport

Locations

  • Tauranga
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō & Tūrangi

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales

Weather

  • Rotorua
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Rotorua Daily Post

Spike in Rotorua rents worries property experts

Katee Shanks
By Katee Shanks
Multimedia journalist·Rotorua Daily Post·
5 Nov, 2017 04:00 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Patrick Perston. Photo/Stephen Parker

Patrick Perston. Photo/Stephen Parker

By Katee Shanks and Sinelle Fernandez

Rotorua tenants, including "double-income families" are being locked out of the rental market as weekly prices soar 20 per cent in 12 months.

The latest Trade Me Rental Property Index for September show a typical three-bedroom home costs $350 a week, a 20 per cent rise from September 2016.

One Rotorua property expert said he was "very worried" about the increases and the impact it had on potential tenants.

Read more: Slight drop in Rotorua average house values
Rotorua house values on the rise

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Richard Evans, co-director of Rotorua Rentals, said the ongoing issue of demand outweighing supply was aggravating the situation.

"The rental pool overall in New Zealand has shrunk quite dramatically in the last two years, and the demand has risen quite dramatically," he said.

High demand for rental properties had encouraged landlords to increase rents.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

He said those who couldn't keep up with the market's demands would likely move out to places such as Tokoroa, where prices were cheaper, but that put tenants further away from the cities.

"I am worried, because in a place like Rotorua, a high proportion of our tenants are beneficiaries," said Evans.

He expressed particular concern for those in lower socio-economic areas, as rent prices increased but not income, disrupting the balance.

Yet, the natural order of the property market may redeem that balance, he said.

"It's a property cycle.

"Over the next three to five years' time, house prices may stall. Unsold houses may come into the rental market. And then in another three to four years after that, there may be another boom."

Gina Peiffer, Rotorua Love Soup co-ordinator, an organisation providing food and support for the homeless and struggling, said weekly rent was hard enough to pay and increases were making it near impossible.

"My own rent has increased $50 every six months since we took the place.

"I am aware landlords are legally able to do this but it's making a bad situation worse. My income hasn't increased at all.

"An average one- to two-bedroom property between $300 to 400 is unaffordable for most people. And I'm not just talking about beneficiaries. Many of the people we are trying to find homes for are double-income families."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Peiffer said if Work and Income were not subsidising renters with the temporary accommodation supplement there would be many more people living on the street.

"And some of these homes people are fighting for are absolute dogs bodies," she said.

She believes there should be some sort of regulation implemented for the rental market.

Simon Anderson, chief executive of Realty Services, which operates Bayleys and Eves, said Rotorua rent increases were a double-edged sword.

"What we've seen in Rotorua is a definite shortage of rental properties so supply and demand is a factor in increased prices.

"The shortage is due to the Rotorua business sector being so buoyant which makes the city a good place to invest.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Property sales have been strong and vendors are enjoying an appreciation in values. But this contributes to both a shortage in available property as new people come to Rotorua and an increase in rents."

He said he was aware the lack of rental homes and increased rents were making it tough for many Rotorua people, especially those who fell into the lower socio-economic bracket.

Patrick Perston is one of those people.

Perston featured in the Rotorua Daily Post five months ago when he had found a rental property after sleeping in his car for six weeks.

Now, after living in a cold, mouldy home, he is back searching.

"The property I got was really hard to heat and full of mould.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"I couldn't have my 4-year-old daughter at the house because it was so cold and, although the landlords have insulated the property and installed a panel heater, the mould is still there."

He was worried the mould would make his daughter sick.

"I was paying $245 for the property and I know how hard it is going to be finding another house for the same amount. Especially when you're filling out the forms, or going to view a house, and you know how many others are doing the same thing for the same place.

"It's a fight that pits one family against another."

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Property

Rotorua Daily Post

Helicopter pilot's off-grid Taupō cabin draws international interest

03 Jul 06:55 AM
Premium
Opinion

Property Insider: Foodstuffs' $380m expansion with new Pak'nSave sites in the works

24 Jun 12:00 AM
Premium
Property

'Māori are long-term investors' - learning from success and failure working with iwi

20 Jun 12:00 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Property

Helicopter pilot's off-grid Taupō cabin draws international interest

Helicopter pilot's off-grid Taupō cabin draws international interest

03 Jul 06:55 AM

Vendor's love of TV westerns inspired him to build his own frontier home.

Premium
Property Insider: Foodstuffs' $380m expansion with new Pak'nSave sites in the works

Property Insider: Foodstuffs' $380m expansion with new Pak'nSave sites in the works

24 Jun 12:00 AM
Premium
'Māori are long-term investors' - learning from success and failure working with iwi

'Māori are long-term investors' - learning from success and failure working with iwi

20 Jun 12:00 AM
Premium
All rentals must meet five Healthy Homes standards by July 1

All rentals must meet five Healthy Homes standards by July 1

17 Jun 11:00 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Rotorua Daily Post e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Rotorua Daily Post
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP