MattKay

Been checking the rent prices for Wellington and they quite bit more expensive than where i live now, which is Liverpool, i think the average or anything half decent $400 per week where as in Liverpool was paying £615 a month, is this the norm for New Zealand?

any advise would be hugely apprecited

Matt & Kay

Walfordnz

We have just been in the process of looking for a rental in Wellington. We struggled finding anything decant due to having 2 cats and a dog. We managed to find one in the end but at $560pw. Obviously I think it depends on where you are from in the uk to whether you find it expensive or not. The price for us is a good deal, for the amount of house we are getting (double garage, large garden, detached) in Wellington compared to if we were to rent in our area it would be a attached built up area probably no garage (East Sussex) we have just rented our own two bedroom flat for £750pm.

I found that the range went from $300-$600 + dependant on area, size and quality of the house, there are some houses that are a right state but that may be because we were looking at houses that allow pets. Also you will find at the moment the ones that are nice and a good price get snapped up straight away. Sometimes a house would just be posted we would enquire about it and it would already be gone, but again also could be because we have pets. But I believe it is more the case across the field with the housing at the moment.
So if you do like a house I would recommend really try and go for it. Also our wages are better in New Zealand, our out going in New Zealand are more than the uk but we do not have a mortgage on our property. Also have a look at ones you are not sure about either because we ended up loving the one we kept putting on a back burner. And ended up getting that one so do have a look you may be surprised

I hope this helps you even just a little.

MattKay

yeh i know what you mean, it does depend on a lot of things, i think i did read that you don`t have to pay council tax, in New Zealand this is up to the Landlord. Where abouts in Wellington are you looking for?

Matt & Kay

Walfordnz

No we don't have to pay council tax for our rental so it does even itself out in that respect. We managed to get a house in the Hutt area. Where abouts are you looking? are you looking for something soon?

Moses2013

What I hear from friends, that seems to be normal these days and as mentioned really depends what people want and are used to. If you calculate, paying $400 a week adds up to $20,800 in a year. Some might have the wages to match that, while others come from areas where 5 years rent would have paid off a house.

Walfordnz

I know it's a huge amount, and a big decision to make if you want to make the move to New Zealand.

I hope you find what you are looking for soon Matt & kay

MattKay

to be honest we are just looking for Wellington but doing a bit more digging seems people are put off with the fog and wind there, so maybe looking somewhere a bit more up the coast. We are looking for about May, i know we have a bit of time yet. Can you rent a house on Working holiday Visa, as i will have full time job.

Matt & Kay

ChrisRobinson

Are you checking te rental pages on Trademe.co.nz this is NZ's ebay and basically everything is sold there.

I don't know Wellington well but it is really a tiny community, I doubt you will get much for $400. Check insulation, heating, history particularly if the property has been completely redecorated. The drug P is a major issue in NZ and houses are often used as P labs, correctly they need serious decontamination after such use but it is common to just redecorate and new carpets to cover up the damage - the results can be deadly so be warned! We looked for a property in the Kumeu area, very smart but 4 out of 6 country homes we viewed there were ex P labs, it is a big problem.

escapedtonz

Hey Hey Barry calm down calm down !
Sorry, just my stoopid sense of humour and the fact I religiously watched Brookie in the day


Yup that's the norm for Wellington.
You'll need to pay at least $500/$550 a week for something decent and not necessarily close to the CBD. Last place we rented in Tawa 2013 to 2014 was 475 a week and we only got it for that price as it was a strict 12 month contract only and we had to endure 6-10 weeks of refurbishment works to the exterior cladding as the owner wanted to sell after we had vacated.
We're from the North West England. We lived in Southport the month before moving out to Wellington. In Laws in Churchtown. Sister in Law in Aughton


No Council Tax or Poll Tax in NZ. We have Council Rates instead but these are paid by the owner/landlord and cannot be passed on to a tenant. Similarly water is generally free to a tenant in Wellington and the charges come under the Council Rates. A tenant can be charged for water but the property will need a meter so your usage can be calculated. Not many water meters in Welly.


Can't remember there being that much fog in Welly when we were there but yes the wind is certainly a factor. It'll be less noticeable if you lived in the Hutt Valley or up the Kapiti.


You are unlikely to be able to secure any rental property (unless its a holiday let bookable via the internet) whilst still overseas. The agents / landlord will want to meet you, check you out and want a rental application completing with all your details before they'll even consider you.
I doubt being on a WHV should matter as you have a job.

MattKay

thank you very much for coming back to me, that is some very useful information you brought to my attention. We are planning to stay in Air B&B for a couple of weeks as we look for properties to rent.
I have looking at Hutt Valley, just i wont have a car to start with so its just travelling to Wellington each day.

escapedtonz

I commuted in to Wellington on the train from Woburn for the first 8 weeks in my new job. Was easy as and cost around $8.50 return. Probably a bit more nowadays but you can buy the 10 trip tickets or a monthly/annual pass to bring the costs down.
After that I went on shift and the shift job included a car park under the building so I just bought car.....and a motorbike

MattKay

That's good then. I take it your loving life in new Zealand then. Better than home?

escapedtonz

Oh man yeah for sure.
Haven't missed living in the UK at all really. Yeah I wish my mates and family were here. Yeah I wish I could just go to the local for a real ale, yeah the chips are crap but don't miss anything else.
We went back to Southport all of September 2015 to wrap up the house sale in Preston and even though we had a great time and the weather was good I couldn't wait to get back 'home'.

Munchkjn

Hi, sorry that was me that mentioned the fog. It is only a problem if you live up high in Wellington. We were about 180m above sea level and the fog used to move in roughly once a week and leave us in a white-out. Also, we endured some shocking weather last summer, it was similar to the winter we just had in terms of rainfall and temperatures. So don't be put off by that, hopefully we will be in for a great summer this year

We paid $650 per week for a 3/4 bed place with double garage and views to die for. Uninsulated, a bit damp with only a single gas heater.

The rent included council tax and water rates. So in reality not too dissimilar rent to a 4 bed in a nice area in most big cities in the UK.

Wellington is a nice city to be in, if you can find a nice spot. Unfortunately the rental market is a bit of a bun fight. We arrived in August and had to take what we could get after looking hard for around 3 weeks. On the plus side, when we wanted to move out we had no bother getting someone in to replace us.

Rental crisis deepens as Mt Cook flat viewing attracts more than 40 people | Stuff.co.nz

I found that Wellington is a bit of a childless city, I got the feeling that a large proportion of inhabitants didn't have kids and the city is geared up for those sorts of people who have time to indulge in adult leisure pursuits. Just my perspective. The family areas seem to be more out of town. If you are a childless couple, you may find Wellington to be a bit of an adults playground which is pretty cool (I'd imagine..).

That's not o say there's nothing for kids to do, there is. Museums, playgrounds, lots of water activities etc. It's just I don't see as many families as I did back home.

sr71

£615 is pretty cheap, I don't think NZ is that expensive in comparison to living in more desirable areas of the UK. I was paying £1800 per month for a 2 bedroom flat conversion in London, £1500 for a 2 bedroom apartment in Hove.

They weren't the cheapest, but even the crappy areas were still £1000 a month