Katharine Moody takes a look at rental affordability, suggesting Parliament considers a formula approach to rental market regulation
I looked at movement of market rents in the Hutt Valley (Dec 2020-Jan 2021) following the lifting of the COVID rent increase freeze. Plotting actual rent asking prices against the Lower Hutt median income (Census 2018) suggested that only three of the properties offered for rent could be considered affordable by households with median or lesser household incomes. I also found a 14% average rise in rental asking prices when compared with the previous six months bond data as provided by Tenancy Services. Read More…