Dunedin’s housing market is a study of two parts, where grand historic architecture meets student flats, where property values rise and the pressures of affordability challenges residents, whether they live here for 12 months or nine months a year.
Dunedin stands out in the economic reports which suggest that New Zealand’s housing market is slowly improving. The city has recorded modest gains in property values.
We perform ahead of Auckland and Wellington with the reports saying that Dunedin’s property market is pretty resilient in a time of considerable turmoil.
This stands in contrast to the reality for many University of Otago and Otago Polytechnic students. The student housing stock in Dunedin has been historically condemned as ‘‘slums’’.
Despite new regulations requiring rentals to be warm and dry, enforcement and landlord compliance still appear to be major issues, leaving students to pay high rent for substandard, unhealthy accommodation.
MBIE’s Tenancy Compliance and Investigations Team conducted an inspection of Dunedin student rentals last year to check compliance with the Residential Tenancies Act 1986.
Of the 53 properties inspected, the team reportedly issued 23 warnings and 12 improvement notices. Most of the problems were related to fairly standard maintenance issues which is alarming.
Some landlords are renting houses for over $200 a room and yet not spending enough of that on the basic maintenance of that home. Times might be tough for everyone, but basic maintenance is an essential cost of the rental business. And, it turns out, of the law.
The tertiary institutions are building student accommodation which is a significant help, but the private rental market is a really important player in the city’s reputation to students and their whānau.
Poor quality student housing continues to drag the standing of the whole city down, especially when the city gains significant economic investment from the university and the polytechnic.
Many students are also arriving without confirmed accommodation which puts stress on the support services in the institutions and the students themselves. University is an exciting adventure for the first-years. For returning students it is another year to cement in the expertise they are developing to improve their future prospects.
Housing stress caused by low supply of decent housing dulls that anticipation and creates unnecessary anxiety for young people.
The challenges of Dunedin’s housing provision extend far beyond the student population. It is not just a problem in February. The Salvation Army’s ‘‘State of the Nation 2026’’ report shows rising hardship in New Zealand communities with housing uncertainty continuing to be a fundamental reason.
The report says that Dunedin saw a decrease in the number of people on the public housing register in 2025 and that more public housing places have become available.
But to get on to the register a person has to meet stringent criteria which have narrowed under the current government. A decrease in the waiting list does not mean a decrease in need. It means an decrease in the visibility of that need.
In the Star this week, the Dunedin community ministries manager for the Salvation Army confirmed these trends are acutely felt here. People are living in unstable situations, sleeping on couches, in cars, in places where they are unsafe and insecure.
This paper reported recently on former refugees who are warmly welcomed here into the Dunedin community but struggle to find safe, appropriate housing. The city’s desire to be openhearted is undermined by our housing problems.
Dunedin’s housing market is not just a matter of property values, but an essential for the health and wellbeing of our whole community, students and families alike.
This matter needs to stay on top of our local political agenda but also the national political agenda. A good hospital and good housing is not too much for us to ask for.
- Associate Prof Metiria Stanton Turei is a law lecturer at the University of Otago and a former Green Party co-leader.
