People who rent are being ripped off by cowboy rental agencies hiking rents by five percent a week, every week, in times of high demand, the Green Party said today.
“The rental market is becoming a Wild West with cowboys taking advantage of people who are desperately looking for a decent place to live,” said Green Party Co-leader Metiria Turei.
“Hiking rents by five percent a week, every week, is price gouging. It’s outrageous and unfair.
“The standard one-year lease term creates annual pinch points when everyone is looking for a new home at the same time, and rental agencies are clearly taking advantage of that by raising prices.
“National’s failure to fix or even understand the housing crisis has whipped the Auckland rental market into a perfect storm, with first home buyers buying up apartments and banks not lending to developers to build enough new ones.
“Renting doesn’t need to be a second rate option; we can modernise the rules to bring them into line with other countries where people who rent have more rights and security,” Mrs Turei said.
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