Ilmars Gravis is co-convenor of the Ōpōtiki–Whakatāne branch of the Green Party of Aotearoa

A large proportion (34.2 percent) of Ōpōtiki residents live in rental housing (realestateinvestar.co.nz), paralleling a growing trend as Aotearoa is set to passing a milestone of having more renters than homeowners (RNZ, July 2024).

This new reality would not be a problem if New Zealand had robust and secure tenure regulations as evidenced abroad.

This coalition government lacks a coherent rental policy and in our overheated investment-driven housing market this causes much hardship to renters, who have little right to any sort of secure tenancy.

Renters are subject to exponentially increasing rents and short-notice evictions as the whim of landlords.

As revealed in 2018 census data, a quarter of rental houses are classified as cold, damp and mouldy, with 17 percent having visible mould.

The resulting health implications are yet another health burden borne by our whole community.

When one considers weekly median rent in Ōpōtiki has increased from $200 in 2018 (stats.govt.nz) to an eye-watering $500 (realestateinvestar.co.nz), one can see the significant economic and social burden high rental costs place not only to renters, but our whole community.

It is no wonder some people find themselves working several minimum wage jobs just to maintain payments of rent and bills, at the sacrifice of eating well, or paying for GP visits.

In other cases people are reduced to living in cars or emergency accommodation.

Tax policies implemented by our coalition Government were described as a “happy new tax year for landlords” (Catherine Macgregor, Spinoff March 11 2024), with savings for landlords unlikely to be passed on to renters.

Current government policy drives corporate investment in housing, further inflating the already overheated housing market.

All these factors contribute to a highly unequal balance of rights between landlords and tennants.

I do acknowledge that landlords also require protections, however we now see a rental market in New Zealand that places renters at the bottom of a hierarchy that sees property owners and investors at the top, and hugely benefiting from current government tax and housing policy.

In our country it seems one of the primary social factors behind our current situation is the almost religious value placed on home ownership in our country.

This in turn has led to a socio-economic housing framework where owning your own home is the only potentially viable path towards long-term security in housing, in the absence of rental and leasing policies that favour long-term and stable rental occupation.

However, the converse of this is that governments can also implement measures to remedy market failures including direct public expenditure, provision of subsidies or tax benefits, and regulation of certain aspects of the rental relationship, such as rent prices.

If we are to pride ourselves as being a nation built on values of care and empathy for those less fortunate than ourselves, it is high time government led the way.  This winter, the Green Party Aotearoa has launched its 2024 Renters campaign, recognising that everyone deserves a secure, safe, healthy and affordable home.

Key policy initiatives include:

1. Improving Healthy Homes Standards, with a mandatory rental warrant of fitness

2. Improving security for renters, and capping rent increases

3. Partnering with Māori organisations and providing funding to ensure that the rental market provides secure, affordable housing for Māori, with pathways to ownership

4. Scaling up public housing and providing supported housing for people with complex needs.

If you would like to support a party that is the only party on the record as campaigning for renter’s rights through implementation of a systematic evidence-based policy with proven evidence for better social and economic outcomes, your local Green Party branch would love to hear from you [email protected]