As Porirua rents soar, Mayor says up to 16 people living in three-bedroom homes

May 25, 2021

Given recent increases, in 30 years social housing in the suburbs will cost the Government $1.5 billion, Shamubeel Eaqub said.

A top economist says the Government’s plan to address social housing issues is set to fail.

A recent Salvation Army report found a three-bedroom home in Porirua costs around $600 per week to rent.

And with rent increases, Shamubeel Eaqub says in 30 years' time social housing in the suburb will cost the Government $1.5 billion.

“We should be using this $1.5 billion today to house people better,” he told Breakfast today. “And that includes everything, from building more state houses. But we're not going to build enough."

“Our plan to build state houses in the next four to five years is half of the current wait list. We're planning to fail.”

Meanwhile, the mayor of Porirua is worried about the negative impact rent price increases are having on the community.

A recent Salvation Army report revealed a three-bedroom home in the suburb costs around $600 per week to rent.

“We’ve got families over in the east where there’s three or four families living in a three-bedroom house,” Anita Baker told Breakfast in a separate interview.

“I had kids say to me the other day, ‘I just need some space.’ You know, they just can’t get away from people so then when one person in the family gets sick everybody gets sick.

“You’ve got 14 or 16 living in a house because they can’t afford $700 per week. When’s it going to stop?”

The mayor was joined by renter Julia Burgisser, who said the high cost means sacrificing some necessities.

“It’s crazy that over half of my wages — and I earn OK money — goes on just living,” she explained. “Gone are the days where I could afford things like a dentist.”

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