Landlord Leases Queen St Parking for $35 a Week

Posted 1:41pm Sunday 14th April 2024 by Hugh Askerud

A landlord has been leasing out car parks to a Queen St population battling to find a park. Eight to ten car parks have been made available for lease by the landlord after he realised his tenants only “had about three cars.” What’s shocked students is the price, with one student, Read more...

Privacy Commissioner Slams Landlord Website

Posted 12:00pm Monday 11th September 2023 by Zak Rudin

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner (OPC) has released a media release explaining why the website What Does My Landlord Own? (WDMLO) was found in breach of the Privacy Act. The Privacy Commissioner decided to publicly comment on the website as it apparently “provides a cautionary example in Read more...

“Tenant Blacklist” Database Allegedly Breaches Privacy Act

Posted 8:56pm Sunday 3rd September 2023 by Zak Rudin

The renter’s advocacy union Renters United has alleged that Illion Tenancy’s new feature may be in breach of the Privacy Act. The new feature notifies landlords when a tenant has had a background check.    Illion Tenancy, formerly known as TINZ and cheekily referred to by Read more...

How to Take Your Landlord to Court

Posted 9:58pm Tuesday 18th July 2023 by Zak Rudin

Dunedin’s rental rates are rising faster than any other university town in the country, but the quality of the homes is not exactly a sterling standard. Since people come and go every year, it can be easy for a property owner to neglect a home for years on end, always promising to do work for Read more...

Landlords are (Once Again) Pressuring Students to Sign Early

Posted 2:06pm Sunday 7th May 2023 by Rosa Hehir

It’s that time of year again: students are feeling the pressure to decide whether to re-sign or leave their current flats for 2024. If you’re on a fixed-term lease, you don’t actually need to do this until 28 days before departure. Critic Te Ārohi spoke to a couple students Read more...

Housing is Hell: Are we ever going to get to own houses?

Posted 12:04am Saturday 2nd October 2021 by Oscar Francis

“Don’t wait, just go,” is Bernard Hickey’s advice to students who want the security of owning their own home. Bernard is an economist. He is perhaps even more pessimistic about the prospects of home ownership for young generations than the doomers themselves. If you Read more...

Landlord Fails to Make Tenants Pay for Lockdown Freezer Leak

Posted 2:25pm Sunday 18th July 2021 by Denzel Chung

A North Dunedin landlord discovered damage to a flat during last year’s lockdown and unsuccessfully took the tenants to the Tenancy Tribunal for $1800.  The tenants, who were granted name suppression by the Tribunal, were not even at the flat at the time of the damage. The landlord Read more...

Student Union Turns Landlord

Posted 5:25pm Tuesday 2nd March 2021 by Sean Gourley

Otago University Student’s Association (OUSA) is converting the space above University Book Shop, on Great King Street, into six separate apartments.  A resource consent from the DCC showed that OUSA will build three two-bedroom apartments and three one-bedroom apartments in the space. Read more...

Survey Shows 74% of Landlords Would Increase Rent if Labour Win Election

Posted 10:52am Sunday 24th September 2017 by Joe Higham

Results of a survey released by the New Zealand Property Investors Federation (NZPIF) showed that as many as 74 percent of the 800 landlords surveyed would increase rents if Labour wins the election and implements its housing policies. With Critic’s publication and distribution dates Read more...

Dunedin Landords face Tenancy Tribunal over Illegal Letting of Rooms

Posted 10:23am Sunday 19th March 2017 by Joel MacManus

The Tenancy Tribunal has ruled several North Dunedin landlords have been requiring tenants to sign illegal fixed term contracts before granting them residence in studio rooms or boarding houses. The practice is believed to be widespread in Dunedin, and according to a Critic investigation, may be Read more...