Rental Housing Aftershocks

A recent survey carried out by Tenants Protection Association (ChCh) on rent increases and housing conditions has found that over 85% of tenants in the region are being negatively affected by rent increases.

“Tenants can’t afford to pay for power bills, food, petrol, or going to the doctor. They can’t afford to find more suitable housing or save anything for a house deposit because their rents keep going up. Above all, tenants feel stressed, worried, depressed and fearful of the future,” says Helen Gatonyi, manager of TPA.

“Enough is enough…it’s time for this government to take some action to ensure the well-being of tenants does not continue to deteriorate. We need to open the debate on rent stabilization, on security of tenure and other measures to help tenants gain access to decent affordable housing. A Warrant of Fitness must also be developed to include all private sector rental housing”

Other survey results :

Almost 60% of tenants pay over 40% of their annual income in rent

70% of tenants have had their rent increased in the 2 years post-earthquakes

The average rent increase was $ 43 per week

Half of all tenants report mould in their dwellings

Less than half of all tenant households are insulated

For the full results and recommendations view the survey report on the TPA website www.tpa.org.nz

http://img.scoop.co.nz/media/pdfs/1306/TPA_Rental_Survey_Report_2013.pdf

ENDS

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