One Māori student advocate at Massey University fears rent increases to Wellington rental properties and a lack of accommodation availability could put students off studying. This follows a reported warning from property experts of the market

Carla Brosnan is running out of time to find a home for herself and her mother.

It isn't how the Hamilton woman expected her life to end up. Five years ago, the now 43-year-old was a self-employed IT consultant, working on projects in Australia and New Zealand and earning $200,000 a year.

Then, in August 2014 she was diagnosed with a rare neurological condition, idiopathic intracranial hypertension. It causes the symptoms of a brain tumour, despite there being no tumour present.

There is no guaranteed treatment plan or cure. She had personal insurance policies but was turned down for her claim, a decision she is still fighting. In May 2015, she had to give up work.

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Now Brosnan is on a supported living payment and disability benefit, receiving $300 a week, and she's stuck navigating a tight rental market, which is putting pressure on tenants around the country trying to find homes.

It was reported last week that rental inflation is running at a 10-year high across New Zealand. University towns are bracing for a surge of applicants as students return for the new year.

In Hamilton, the median rent in November on Trade Me was $420, up 5 per cent year-on-year.

Brosnan says she's experienced the brunt of that.

SUPPLIED Carla Brosnan worries she'll have to move into a motel if she can't find a new home before her lease expires.

She was forced to sell her house after withdrawing her KiwiSaver and getting into debt when she could no longer work.

In October 2017, she and her mother moved into their current rental property.

"We were left with terrible credit ratings but all debt was paid off, credit cards cancelled and no new credit facilities have been applied for, and we have a nice amount of savings in the bank. There was a very short settlement period to the sale of the house and as a result we took the first rental property we were offered."

But that property was a two-storey unit, with all the bedrooms and bathrooms on the second level.

Her health deteriorating, it is no longer practical for her to live there because it is difficult for her to manage stairs.

When the owner suggested the rent would increase from $460 a week to $510 when the lease comes up for renewal, they opted not to agree to a new fixed term.

"Although we have been looking frantically for a new home we have 25 days until February 11 when our lease expires and we still haven't found anywhere."

So far, it's been impossible to find a single-storey property with a large shower that will accommodate a shower chair and be suitable for a cat and two small dogs.

SUPPLIED It's hard to find a home when you have pets, Brosnan says - even though they were with her before she became a tenant.

The cat has been with her for 18 years and the dogs are 12 and 10.

"At viewings we always make sure we talk to the owner or property manager to try and make ourselves stand out from the crowd. The fact I'm using a walker should help with that, too. Along with our application I also send a letter outlining the reason for our bad credit rating and providing them with a bank balance to show we have the money to pay the rent. I also include photos of our pets and details of their ages to show they aren't kittens/puppies and advise they are fully toilet trained.



"But we aren't even getting reference-checked, and we have excellent references. Our current property manager raves how we have kept a brand-new property looking brand new, even with three pets, and of course we have never missed a rent payment.

"There are properties that we have applied for that we have not been reference-checked on that are still on offer, where someone has made the decision they would literally rather see them be left empty and receive no income from them than rent them to us without even doing a reference check."

Brosnan said government moves to encourage landlords to consider people with pets were unlikely to help, she said. When there was strong demand from tenants, property owners would still choose those who did not have them, she said.

"Mum's a retiree, only on super and I'm a beneficiary. That never looks good. It doesn't matter that we've got savings in the bank and are financially sound."

Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson said it was a concern.

"[Stories like these] demonstrate our rental market is increasingly leaving the most vulnerable behind. We support higher accessibility standards for private rentals, as well as increasing the number of fully accessible state houses available for people with disabilities."

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