Winter rental demand tops supply

Wanaka property manager Colleen Topping at one of the  few rental houses available in Wanaka this...
Wanaka property manager Colleen Topping at one of the few rental houses available in Wanaka this winter. Photo by Jessica Maddock.
A shortage of houses for rent in Wanaka is causing ''havoc'', with people forced to live in backpackers or ''couch surf'', industry members say.

Acting hostel manager at Base backpackers, Jackie Smith, said there were more people living at the hostel this winter than previously.

She had allocated two dormitory rooms to New Zealand and overseas long-term guests, at $180 a week per bed, but had capped capacity.

Kate Murray, manager of Community Networks Wanaka, a non-government social services agency, said there was anecdotal evidence of people sharing rooms and sleeping on sofas.

''Houses have a lot more people staying in them than they were built for.''

Home and Co Property Management director Colleen Topping agreed a lot of people in Wanaka had been forced to ''couch surf'' at friends' rental houses, which could cause overcrowding.

She believed Wanaka's permanent population had grown and some people had been unable to find long-term rental houses, so had ''snapped up'' a lot of properties which were only available for rent during winter, despite the ''premium'' prices and the fact they would have to find other accommodation in October.

The amount of houses available for rent had not dropped, she said, but the number of applications from people seeking accommodation was up.

''You can have five people turning up to view. A couple of years ago, you could advertise for a couple of weeks before you even got anybody to inquire.''

Professionals Wanaka Realty director Helen Henshall said the increasing number of section sales could be affecting rental house capacity.

''All those people who are buying sections, even if 50% of them are local, they are cashing up the properties they are living in and going renting for a year while they are building. So, all of a sudden, we end up with a mass entry of people taking up the normal supply [of rentals].

"So the shortage is creating us a bit of havoc, quite a bit of havoc actually.''

Ms Henshall said Wanaka was not keeping up with demand for rental houses from tradespeople and others ''who are effectively our workers'', saying she knew of a couple of people who had turned down jobs in Wanaka because they had been unable to find a house to rent.

Harcourts property manager Anne Moffat did not think the shortage was any worse than in previous winters, believing the number of rental houses had risen this year.

She said the problem was ''first-timers'' - people renting houses in Wanaka for the first time - coming without any renting referees, making it difficult to secure a property.

''Repeat people find it much easier to get a property, because they've got referees.''

Agents also said rental prices had increased, with Ms Henshall saying they had gone ''through the roof. I think probably in over 60 or 70% of our rentals, the rents went up this year. And it really didn't matter if it was worth it or not. Supply and demand pushed it up.''

Mrs Topping agreed long-term rental prices had risen, by about 14% during the past six months, which was ''quite significant'', but the cost of rental houses only available during winter had not changed.

Ms Henshall said the rental house situation could ease in coming years if a Queenstown Lakes District Council proposal to allow owners of large sections in some parts of Wanaka to subdivide them and build a second house was adopted.

- Jessica Maddock 

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