Cost of renting up 4 per cent

Press, 9 March 1988, Page 12

Cost of renting up 4 per cent

The cost of rental accommodation in Christchurch has risen an average of about 4 per cent during the last six months, according to the Housing Corporation. But the corporation’s Tenancy Bond Division believed that rate could increase over the coming half-year.

The division records the average rent for four different types of accommodation available in Christchurch.

Those figures show that since July last year the average Christchurch rent rose 4.3 per cent. However, some areas of the city and some types of accommodation dropped in price. Two-bedroom houses in the Merivale area, which includes Riccarton, Ham and Fendalton, rose 22.8 per cent over the six months to January this year. However, the rental for a single flat in the same area dropped 12.3 per cent.

Last December the Valuers’ Institute predicted hefty rent rises for residential accommodation because of increasing demand on top of static accommodation.

At the beginning of last / year the Property In-1 vestors’ Association saidi residential landlords would leave the industry because the new Residential Tenancies Act would not give them a fair deal. However, Mr Philip Pigou, the manager of the Tenancy Bond Division, could see no evidence that either of those predictions had eventuated. "Landlords are still investing in property —• I think the stockmarket crash has played a part in that iit has proved property is a sound investment.”. He believed Christchurch rents had stabilised to “what the tenant can afford to pay and what a landlord needs; to meet his or her commitments.”

"The landlords’ attitude is they would rather have a good payer at a lower rent than bad payers at higher ones,” he said.

The rental for a onebedroom flat in Christchurch can cost between $55 and $125 and a twobedroom flat between $B5 and $lB5- Houses with three bedrooms rent for between $125 and $230 while two-bedroom houses range between $lOO and $l6O, according to the division. 1 However, when these figures are compared with the Valuers’ Insitute’s average Auckland rents they show Christchurch residents are well off. In Auckland a one -bedroom flat rents for about $l3O a week and rents were rising about 30 per cent a year. Below are the average rent and most common rent for the four main rental areas of Christchurch at January, 1988, and the » percentage change from July, 1987.

I % rent average rent most change per week $ common rent last year One-bedroom flats: City (including Addington, Linwood and Waltham) 77 95 -8.3 St Albans 90 I 90 4.6 Woolston (including Opawa) i Merivale (including Ham, Fendalton and Riccarton) 83 N/A 5.0 Two-bedroom flats: City, etc. 109 110 3.0 St Albans 123 120 12.8 Woolston, etc. 117 N/A -2.5 Merivale, etc. 131 130 5.6 Three-bedroom houses: 1 City, etc. 144 145 ’ 1.3 St Albans 147 180 2.0 Woolston, etc. 150 ; N/A -4.0 Merivale, etc. 155 140 and 160 2.0 Two-bedroom houses: City, etc. 130 125 18.8 St Albans N/A N/A N/A Woolston, etc. 133 N/A 2.3 Merivale, etc. 140 N/A 22.8