New Zealand Defence Force rent hike on 'damp and mouldy' housing rankles families
Wednesday, 10 February 2021
Rents are set to increase by up to 50 per cent for military families, sparking concerns about sub-standard living conditions and financial stress.
The New Zealand Defence Force will increase rents at its housing and barracks accommodation from April 1, with some families facing a rent rise of more than $100 a week.
The rent rise is a consequence of triennial renegotiations with Inland Revenue, but residents find the rent hike unrealistic given the living conditions they are expected to tolerate.
Tenants have told Stuff many of the houses are leaking, filled with black mould, have asbestos, are insufficiently heated, lack insulation and are infested with insects.
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The new housing rates reflect the significant increases in New Zealand market rentals over the past three years, defence force chief people officer Liz Huckerby said.
But the homes remain significantly discounted compared to market rates for most locations.
“This is a requirement of the Income Tax Act and failure to negotiate an agreement would mean NZDF personnel in defence accommodation paying significantly higher market rents.
“The NZDF recognises that this increase to accommodation rates may be difficult news for some personnel who are also managing financial challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The average lease of a three-bedroom defence home, most built in the 1950s, will jump from $190 a week to $272.50. The average market rent for a similar house in areas where the defence force has housing stock is $389 a week.
Tenants who will struggle with the increase have been offered financial planning advice and budgeting information, and commanders would be available for support and guidance, Huckerby said.
But while the rental rates are catching up to 2021 market conditions, military families claim the state of the housing stock is lagging decades behind.
A mother of two in Linton Military Camp, who didn’t want to be named fearing backlash from the military, said she feared for the health of her children, who were both being treated at an asthma and eczema clinic.
“Every year our children seem to get unwell with respiratory illnesses which I could nearly guarantee wouldn't occur, or at least not as severely, if we had a warm, dry, healthy home.”
When concerns were raised and a housing officer visited the house, she said she was made to feel it was the family's fault the house was damp and mouldy.
Her family had a solid budget, but the rent increase would make it near impossible to meet essential expenses while also saving to buy their own home – which had been the incentive for using defence housing.
“We are nowhere near of being in a position to look at buying our own home. We also had planned to look at having another baby while we are young, and getting married, but those are no longer possible due to the increase.”
Another military housing resident, who also didn't want to be named, said she didn’t feel safe raising her 18-month-old son in the house due to its health hazards.
The woman said she would happily pay higher rent if the properties met the healthy home standard, but the defence force had until June 2024 to reach that marker.
“The increased rent should be put towards making our houses safer and healthier.
“A friend of mine lived in a [military] house that had gaps in the windows, worn down carpet, flooding in her front lawn, so she couldn't even use her front door and herself and baby would constantly get sick.”
Complaints to the housing officer took weeks to be remedied, if at all, she said.
Tenants of military housing are covered by the Residential Tenancies Act 1986. As of August 2020, more than 1380 defence force homes had tenants, 76 were under renovation and 68 were vacant.