Landlords eye up Waitangirua
Wellington’s poorest tenants are funding a property goldrush in the backblocks of Porirua.
A Westpac property investor report has revealed that Waitangirua, one of the most deprived suburbs in Porirua, is Wellington’s best place to buy a three- bedroom rental property. Waitangirua was beaten to the national top spot only by Glenleith in Dunedin.
Elsdon is second to Waitangirua in the Wellington region, according to the report.
Even those getting 100 per cent finance on an average threebedroom property in Waitangirua can cover their mortgage with change left over from the rent it provides.
Cannons Creek Residents and Ratepayers’ Association chairman Bill Hiku said property speculation was getting worse throughout Porirua East, as former state homes were sold to private investors.
There were privately rented homes with water running down walls, lights where the switch was two live wires, and plywood slapped up over broken windows.
Though there were good landlords who fixed problems, others simply told tenants: ‘‘If you don’t like it, get out,’’ he said.
One frustrated tenant asked his landlord to fix a problem.
‘‘Two days later, a gang member who lived in another of the landlord’s properties came over and punched him.
The message was clear, and tenants were too scared to go public, Hiku said.
One Cannons Creek resident, who did not want to be named for fear of being evicted, paid $210 a week for her privately rented three-bedroom home.
It had water running down the walls, a large hole in the bathroom roof, rotting window frames, and a bedroom wall was on a lean.
The landlord would do only the most urgent repairs, leaving her, five other adults, and two children – including a two-week-old baby girl – in a ‘‘damp and cold house’’. Heaters were needed even on sunny, summer days and power bills could run up to $800 a month.
The Westpac report shows an average three- bedroom home in Waitangirua costs about $199,000 and returns $320 a week in rent.
For that property, Westpac’s calculator for a 30-year mortgage showed an owner would need to make weekly payments of only $293, if the house was financed 100 per cent.
Porirua city councillor Izzy Ford said she had seen rodent- infested, leaking properties ‘‘you wouldn’t put your dog in’’.
‘‘For every good landlord there is one there just to pick up that pay packet,’’ she said.
She knew of landlords who lived in Karori and had a rental property in Porirua East.
Those landlords would only rent out to beneficiaries, because Work and Income could pay rent directly. One potential tenant, looking at a property, asked if the holes could be fixed and rodent droppings cleared before she moved in. ‘‘[The landlord] said: ‘If you don’t like it, there’s other people that want to live here’.’’