Christchurch students are struggling to put a roof over their heads due to a housing shortage. Everything related to real estate within OneRoof

The University of Canterbury’s halls are bursting at the seams, with demand for student housing spilling into an already tight private rental market.

Agents told OneRoof that rising numbers of students going to university are putting pressure on the housing market and they are concerned some students will struggle to find accommodation.

All 2,800 University of Canterbury branch places are expected to be filled next year, with current applications suggesting a further 1,297 students could miss out and be forced to find alternative accommodation.

A University of Canterbury spokesperson told OneRoof it could be an “uncertain time” for students and urged those on the waiting list to explore other options, including apartment rentals or private boarding.

The university increased its accommodation offering by 506 rooms in 2021 with the opening of the new Tupuanuku Residence Hall, and plans to add a further 280 rooms in 2026 with another Tupuarangi Residence Hall.

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The increase in the number of students needing accommodation reflects the 5% annual increase in university student numbers. At the beginning of 2024, the number of students reached 22,205 and currently stands at 25,000.

While it was too early to say what the exact numbers would be next year as applications were still open, the spokesperson said it was “encouraging”.

Harcourts Holmwood Property Management chief executive Caroline Register said the agency had been inundated with student rental applications.

Her property managers said the situation was “manic.” They received: 48 applications for a six-bedroom, three-bathroom home on Montana Avenue in Ilam; 30 applications for a house on Waimairi Street in Ilam; and 24 for rent on Acacia Avenue in Upper Riccarton.

A six-bedroom, six-bathroom student rental apartment on Waimairi Road, Ilam, Christchurch, was auctioned off to an investor for $1.725 million after a fierce auction battle. Photo/Attached

All the applications they received were wonderful, and it was “painful” to turn people away because they didn’t have enough stock, she said, adding that many students wrote almost a “special story about themselves.”

“It’s just a real shame. The market needs more stock,” she told OneRoof, highlighting that the agency has fewer than 100 student rental properties on its books. “It would just be great to have a few more investors come into the market in these areas.”

She said properties with five or six bedrooms in the suburbs around the university were popular. “Take a university and put a big ring around it, that’s your idea of ​​neighborhoods.”

Bayleys investment sales specialist Angela Webb said investors and parents with children planning to attend university were mindful of the fact that there was a shortage of student accommodation.

“At the moment I don’t believe there is not enough student accommodation available so the rents have been raised and as the rents have gone up the property values ​​are going up. Parents compete with investors, which leads to higher prices at auctions.”

Just last week, a six-bedroom, six-bathroom house on Waimairi Road in Ilam sold at auction for $1.725 million, surpassing all expectations. Two investors competed for the property, which had a rental income of $1,450 per week and a gross profit margin of 4.37%.

Bayleys salesperson Angela Webb says there is not enough student accommodation in the city, so rents have risen and, as a result, property values ​​have risen. Photo/Attached

The property on Paeroa Street in Riccarton was bought for $630,000 in 2021 and sold three years later for $777,500. Photo/Attached

Webb told OneRoof that she has sold 30 student rental properties in the past three and a half years. She sold one on Paeroa Street in Riccarton for $630,000 in July 2021 and again three years later for $777,500. During this time, the property’s weekly rent increased from $645 to $925.

Student housing often outperformed other housing stock in the ring around the university. “This is probably the biggest demand in my career for rent increases and sales volume.”

Metro sales manager Ray White Richard Withey said student accommodation sold out quite quickly each year, noting demand far outweighed supply.

“They get taken away pretty quickly every year, and the ones left behind are the ones with more bumps and bruises or more complications.”

Withey said the no-cause termination rule introduced by the previous government had impacted traditional student rental advertising. Previously, rentals were listed in July and August, with availability available in December.

But tenants could now automatically convert their fixed tenancy agreement into a periodic tenancy and renew it for any period.

The landlord could only terminate the lease if they were returning, were in rent arrears, or the property was being sold, which also meant that if the tenant chose to remain in the property, they would be excluded from the university tenancy cycle. .

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