Mould, sweet mould: inside New Zealand’s damp housing crisis
The reality of how people are living in New Zealand in 2018.
The big problem with the ‘KFC test’ for tenants
The MP who rumbled property managers talking about the so-called 'KFC test' for tenants writes about why they need to be stopped.
Finding a place to stand in a new landscape
With 84% of Māori now living in urban areas, away from ancestral lands, it has become difficult for many of us to maintain a sense of tūrangawaewae.
‘One of the great tasks for our generation’: Phil Twyford talks housing
After nine years of carping about National's failure to address the housing crisis, Labour now faces the titanic task of actually making something happen. Don Rowe speaks to Minister of Housing Phil Twyford about what he has planned.
The official Spinoff property survey of the Shortland Street suburb of Ferndale
Shortland Street expert Tara Ward finds the best – and worst – places to live in the mythical Auckland suburb of Ferndale.
Why property managers are terrible – for everyone
Property managers. Two words to make the blood run cold, whether you are a tenant or a landlord. Rebecca Stevenson weighs up the data and anecdotal evidence, and her ruling is final: property managers suck.
How many property managers does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
Madeleine Chapman spends a long, soul-sucking day at an Auckland tenancy tribunal.
Housing is a health issue too
Māori and Pacific kids are sick of cold, damp, crowded houses. So when are we going to start treating poor quality housing as the health crisis it is, asks general practitioner Bryn Jones.
Pushing landlords out will only make renting more expensive
With legislative changes set to increase costs for landlords, some smaller players may be forced out of the market. Property Investors' Federation head Andrew King warns this won't be good news for tenants.
Christchurch’s rollercoaster rental market
Earthquakes knocked houses down and rents went up. But it's a different story now in the garden city, Jamie Small finds.
I lived in a van for two years
His friend did it, so he thought he would try it too and save some money. In his last year at university he started living in a van. Now, two years later, he's moving on.
Speculators hate him! One weird trick to end rental bidding wars
Last month we reported landlords in Wellington were actively encouraging rental bidding wars. Here a tenancy lawyer outlines a simple legislative change that would make the concept obsolete.
My daughter and I lived in 17 different homes last year
Pushed to desperate measures by the high costs of renting with a small child, single parent Nichole Brown made a dramatic decision to reduce her housing costs.
Renting 101: A complete guide to living as a tenant in New Zealand
With the permission of Reddit user and tenancy expert Chelsea S, we present Renting 101 - everything you need to know about being a tenant in New Zealand.
What it’s like to be a solo mum searching for a rental
Rent Week 2018: Two tales from Tauranga, which now outranks Auckland as New Zealand's least affordable housing, illustrates the challenges solo mums face in the renting market.
Tinder for flatmates: how Flat Candy is improving the flat-hunting experience
A new Wellington-based service is looking to match rooms with roommates with as little pain as possible. Don Rowe talks to co-founder Brayden Gosse about Flat Candy, the so-called 'Tinder of flatting'.
The Side Eye: Renting in NZ means always moving out and never moving up
Short unstable leases hurt renters and cost us all. Toby Morris looks into the importance of security of tenure.
Announcing Flatmate and Landlord of the Year 2018!
It was the surprise hit of March 2017, and now Rent Week is back, baby. And we want your stories.
The hell that is renting as a single parent in Wellington
Finding a rental in Wellington isn't only a battle for students and young professionals. Here, single mothers tell their accommodation search stories, and public policy researcher Dr Jess Berentson-Shaw explains why housing insecurity is so damaging for families.
I’m a civil servant and I can no longer afford to rent in Wellington
Following our report on the increasingly chaotic rental market in Wellington, one young government employee explains why she's being forced to leave town.
Victoria is planning to revolutionise rights for renters. Why isn’t NZ doing the same?
The State of Victoria has just announced a raft of reforms aimed at strengthening the rights of tenants. NZ-born, Melbourne-based tenancy lawyer Joe Nunweek reviews the changes – and the chances of New Zealand following suit.
A hard look at Gareth Morgan’s plan to save New Zealand’s renters
The Opportunities Party wants to bring German-style renter protection laws to New Zealand – and that's great, says Berlin-based New Zealander Maddie Holden. But how exactly does that policy fit with Gareth Morgan's devotion to neoliberal economics?
Nine ways to fix NZ’s broken rental market: the landlords respond
Last week Otago University tenancy researcher Dr Elinor Chisholm suggested nine things the government should be doing to improve conditions for tenants in New Zealand. We asked the Property Investors Federation to respond, and this is what they told us.
After rent week: we know renting in NZ is a disaster. But it can be fixed
Spinoff editor Duncan Greive looks back at rent week, a pop-up campaign which laid bare the numerous and vicious problems with renting in New Zealand
Slumlords beware – the government has a new taskforce and they’re after your dollars
As more and more young and vulnerable people are locked out of the market, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment has declared war on bad landlords, releasing their tenancy compliance team into the wild. Don Rowe talks to their leader.
The very best of Rent Week on The Spinoff
Compiling the best reading from your friendly local website, featuring a lot of rent week and Hit and Run.
Two incomes. Moved out of the city. 20% deposit. Why won’t any bank lend to us?
Rent week: a reader shares the story of her struggles to buy a house. She's done everything you're supposed to do as an aspirant home-owner – yet the banks won't lend to her. Here she shares her story.
Shamubeel Eaqub: Has anything changed for Generation Rent?
Economist Shamubeel Eaqub's 'Generation Rent' helped quantify the massive changes to the way New Zealanders owned and rented in 2015. Here he looks at what can be don to fix the problems that created.
