With only weeks to go before university classes start, just one-third of the number of rentals are on the Wellington market compared with last year, and many students are struggling to find somewhere to live.

Growing enrolment numbers and an aversion to high-rise apartments after the November quakes are compounding the problem, and there are concerns that Wellington may become an unattractive study destination.

Trade Me Property head Nigel Jeffries said the rental market had "gone a bit crazy this year".

SUPPLIED Flat hunters gather for a viewing in Brooklyn 25 minutes before it opened.

Overall rental stock available to new tenants plummeted, down 61 per cent on last year.

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Inquiries during the first week of listings were up 94 per cent, and average asking prices were up from $533 a week to $576, compared with this time last year.

SUPPLIED Trade Me Property head Nigel Jeffries said the rental market had "gone a bit crazy this year".

Victoria University of Wellington Students' Association president Rory Lenihan-Ikin said he had been inundated with pleas from students struggling to secure accommodation since he returned to work on January 9.

"If the university wants to grow and attract more and more students to Wellington, the lack of accommodation is making it more and more difficult for people to live here," he said.

Some of the properties on the list of 80 buildings identified by Wellington City Council as requiring further inspection were popular with flatters, and reports of students accepting tenancies before final structural reports were issued were an indication of how desperate they were, he said.

SUPPLIED Victoria University of Wellington Students' Association president Rory Lenihan-Ikin wants an "open and frank discussion" around mental health services.

"I would hate to think of people going through the whole process of getting a flat and then two weeks later being told they have to leave, not to mention being in an unsafe house."

Jeffries said the drop in available rentals could be attributed to tenants staying put rather than entering a heated market, to premises being damaged by earthquakes, and banking rules that made building investment properties harder.

"There are real challenges for the city. We need an increase in investment stock, we are a little bit the victims of our own success. The universities are doing well, the council has done well attracting business."

ROBERT KITCHIN/ FAIRFAX NZ Katharine Jermyn Hall in Boulcott St opened in 2015, supplying 390 more beds for students.

He had heard reports of professional couples offering up to $100 above the rental price to get properties, making it even harder for students.

"We do hear some people have more fear because of the earthquake, and are reluctant to go higher up in buildings."

Meanwhile, Wellington's tertiary institutes continued to grow, but the majority of the accommodation they provide remains tailored to first-year students, leaving but older students to compete in the private rental market.

SUPPLIED Victoria Vice-Chancellor Professor Grant Guilford said there were still about 300 beds available for non-first year students.

Victoria University had roughly 17,400 Wellington-based equivalent fulltime students last year, up by more than 400 on 2015. Massey University grew by 150 to 3186 students in the same period.

Victoria Vice-Chancellor Grant Guilford said there were still about 300 beds available for non-first year students.

"We, along with other tertiary institutions in Wellington, are watching the situation carefully. If there is ongoing market failure, Victoria may need to look at filling the gap, but this is not our first preference"

CHRIS SKELTON/ FAIRFAX NZ Wellington Property Investors' Association president Richard Bacon says the city is not in a rental crisis.

Wellington Property Investors' Association president Richard Bacon said the market was going through a period of short supply, but that was not necessarily a problem.

He advised those struggling to find permanent rental accommodation to wait for the market to cool.

A BUDGET OF $800 A WEEK AND NO FLAT

MONIQUE FORD/ FAIRFAX NZ Post-grad student Michael Allen has been looking for a flat since November without any luck.

Post-grad student Michael Allen has been looking for a flat since November. His group comprises three post-grads and one third-year student.

"I'd say we've looked at at least 30 to 40 flats. We have applied to about half of them because the standards of a lot of the ones we can afford have been so low as to not warrant an application."

The flatmates have an upper limit of $800 to spend on rent each week, but said they were still struggling.

MONIQUE FORD/ FAIRFAX NZ Lana Rosenberg, Rebecca Mountfort and Michael Allen have a budget of $800 a week, but cannot find anywhere to live.

On one occasion they thought they had secured a flat, but some questionable clauses in the contract made them curious.

"It was things like to protect the curtains they had to be open at 7am daily and he specified he would check."

After they queried some of the conditions, the landlord withdrew the contract immediately.

CONSIDERING AN EARTHQUAKE-PRONE FLAT

Victoria third year Sapphire Goldfinch has been scouring Wellington for accommodation since the beginning of December, and a commute from Palmerston North has not made viewings any easier.

Last year she found a place within three weeks for just under $150 a week, "whereas this year finding one that cheap just doesn't happen".

She conceded her budget now might have to be closer to $250.

"The reality is I would consider an earthquake-prone flat if it meant living in Wellington was financially manageable."

Like many students she vacated her Wellington flat last year to return home and earn money over the break. "I kind of wish I hadn't left.

"I do love Welly and love living there, but flatting is a big drawback this year."

BY THE NUMBERS:

* Apartment rental stock listings down 51 per cent

* Overall rental listings down 61 per cent

* Inquiries on listings up 94 per cent

* Average rental price up $533 a week to $576