We have been informed that our rent is going to change and that we will be paying market rent for this place until we move out. Unlike a private rental house when you move in to an HNZ house up until recently the house is pretty bare. There are no curtains, netting or even tracks and hooks to put them on. There are no light bulbs in the house at all and in our case sure there was a splash of paint thrown over some parts of the house but the handover condition was not great.
As we are currently looking for a private rental we are getting the opportunity to see what is out there and condition as well as a good idea as to what the rental market is like. It seems that a freshly redecorated house in this area can fetch between $370.00 to $410.00 per week. These houses have brand new carpet, new wall paper and are fully insulated. This seems to be in line with tenancy services estimations and figures.
What I would like to know is where HNZ gets off charging what I can only describe as above market rates for their houses. OK many people who are in these houses get rental assistance and have the rent reduced to an affordable level BUT as far as I can tell HNZ claims the difference and is paid the difference between what the tenant is paying and the the market rent.
Given many of the houses are in such a poor state of repair and that in commercial terms they are not let as a complete house one has to wonder where the money is going.
One thing that is very clear is that Contractors getting more than their fair share as from our experience they arrive and do a half arsed job and get paid for it only to be called back within a short time to revisit the repair. In once such instance we have seen a contractor revisit repairs more than what was really required and while the contractor was on the job he spent more time texting than actually doing the job.
However my point is not the fact the contractors are in my view ripping off the system but HNZ are them selves creating their own false economy and may fraudulently be handing on a bill to the government that is well above what it should be.
If a private landlord can maintain his investment to such a standard while charging what seems to be a lower rent than HNZ and even get a return on his investment then why can HNZ not do this? Are the people who are running the show that incompetent and if so then why are they on such high salaries?
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