Greens MP Chlöe Swarbrick is sick of the term mum and dad investors.
She's more interested in mum and dad renters, with one third of New Zealanders renting. In Auckland 54 percent of the city's inhabitants rent - a statistic that was unheard of only a few decades ago.
Of those aged 65 or older, 31 percent are renting.
Photo: RNZ / Dan Cook
The old New Zealand narrative of transition from renter to home owner no longer applies, she told Karyn Hay.
“For a really long time we have told ourselves that renting is a transitional stage, it's something that people do when they're younger, when they're trying things out, when they have flatmates and are moving through life experiences and as they get older and settle down they have children and settle into a career and they build up the base to purchase a home.
“But that is simply not reflected in data anymore. One third of New Zealand is renting, in Auckland Central it's far more than that at 54 percent.”
The mum and dad investor story is a myth according to MBIE data, she says.
“Six percent of landlords in this country own over 60 percent of the rentals.
“And if you're looking at the very tippy top, the top 1000 landlords, that's less than 1 percent of landlords, those people own at least 25 percent.”
The problem is not one of supply alone, she says.
“If we are only to focus on measuring housing supply without talking about things like affordability, or quality, or who owns them, we're missing a huge part of that story.”
Both the major political are happy to see prices increase in “sustained moderation,” she says.
That is defined as an approximate 4 percent increase in housing values year on year.
When you reflect on the fact that an affordable home is considered internationally at a ratio of around one to three as somebody’s average income annually to the cost of that property.
“And in this country, it being more like one to 10 when we're not talking about house prices coming down, even though more supply is coming on stream, you can see where this problem starts to play out.”
There is no problem people being long-term renters but there must be a fair rental sector, Swarbrick says.
“We know from Statistics New Zealand's 2020 housing snapshot, that renters on average pay a substantial amount more of their income on rental costs than those who own, we also know they are far more likely to live in unsafe housing, that is housing that is mouldy and may end up with them getting some form of disease.”
She believes rent controls are essential as huge increases in rent have not translated into better quality housing.
“Over the past 30 years we have not seen a measurable increase in the quality of those properties, which once again just reinforces the economic premise that rents are not currently being decided by pass through costs.”
