Changes affect those who rent

Press, 26 February 1980, Page 16

Changes affect those who rent

By

OLIVER RIDDELL,

, in Wellington

There are signs of a growing number of .people trapped in rental accom- ■ modation by/ the present .. economic. < situation ' and through - changes" in their household ; ■ This is the opinion of Mr D. C. Thorns .of the. University of Canterbury in a paper for the National Housing Commission on the choices and constraints in rental housing. ’ If the supply of . rental property is not maintained and increased in line with the likely growth in demand, particularly from young people, then Mr Thorns sees' two major possible consequences. First, there will be a growth in pressure upon present accommodation which could increase, the level of occupancy, causing crowding, and also push up the level of rents. Rent rises .. would most disadvantage thez single-income family which' ; is seeking whole-house ac- ■ ■ commodation closeten? tral city jobs.'' ‘ \ As service, .type jobs are often situatg<£centrally, and are also, aihong the lower- > paid-jobs, people in these t jobtf/’-who need accommodation nearby to minsimise household costs are ? often the ones who are most affected by increases in rentals and who are least able to find the extra /money. .

It is this group of low income earners who have suf- • fered most from changes in the .pattern of renting and from “gentrification” of the inner city areas. “Gentrification” is the: process where, as property values . .. rise and wealthier people seek to buy, so landlords are encouraged to sell (usually, with vacant possession) to realise a capitaLgain. This takes properties out of the rental market, and contributes to shortages of accommodation and the rise in the cost of the remaining rental units. Second, the nature of the housing stock available for rent will affect, the rental market. In fact/ there is a variety of rental stock available, with purpose-built housing -.more common in the middle and outer suburbs.’The rental population such areas differs quite < markedly from the traditional renters in tire inner areas. This means that this outer area rental accommodation is not suited to the needs of the younger, more mobile, . dess wealthy renter more typical of the inner areas. Inner area renters cannot easily transfer to outer areas should rental accommodation in the inner area begin to dry up. Mr Thorns says that young single-person ' households are one of the . growth

sectors among renters: it is important that attention is paid to the problems of maintaining and increasing the supply - of • suitably-de-signed rental units in the inner urban areas for such renters. He wants the preservation of rental accommodation in the inner city areas, of low cost, to be, recognised in urban renewal and rehabilitation schemes. If this scheme reduces the number of older properties (which have become rental units) without replacing them with other low cost accommodation, then the result will be to aggravate the rental problems of younger single person households and low income families. The record of past urban renewal projects in this field has not been good, Mr Thorns says, as low cost accommodation has been replaced by medium and even high cost housing. This process changes the character of the area and displaces the lower income and younger households into neighbouring areas. This can lead'to increased housing pressures in these neighbourhoods and also speeds up the deterioration of the remaining housing stock because of heavy occupancy. A contributing factor is the relatively low concern with maintenance shown by “petty landlords” whose main interest lies in capital gains rather than rental income.