An Auckland family is struggling to afford a bigger home as rental prices continue to soar amid a cost of living crisis.
The Jordans moved to Auckland from Manila, in the Philippines, 17 years ago. Roberto Jordan told 1News he moved here with the dream of owning a three- or four-bedroom home and retiring early, at the age of 50.
But several years after he and his family arrived, the "global financial crisis hit and things really started [to get] topsy-turvy, with rates going up 9%".
“At the moment, we can’t really afford to get into a bigger space because the rates are really astronomical – they’re very expensive," he said.
"I never quite settled down after 17 years of being down here."
The national median rent has risen by nearly 7% in a year. (Source: 1News)
It comes after Trade Me's March Rental Price Index has on Tuesday revealed Kiwis are paying more for rent overall, despite a drop in demand.
The amount of rent tenants are paying has risen by roughly 7% in the past year to the end of March, and now sits at around $575 per week.
Rental prices in Auckland have risen 3% in the past year or so to reach roughly $610 per week.
Trade Me says the jump is in line with record-high inflation and will be hard for renters.
READ MORE: Kiwis paying more for rent as inflation rise bites
Roberto said in the area they live in, his family is the only one paying a weekly rent of $500-plus.
"Most of the apartments around here, especially with the proximity to the town centre, it’s about $600-700 [for three or four bedrooms]."
Roberto says he and his family have recently cut down on most luxuries, including takeaways and watching movies at the cinema.
His two adult sons, 23-year-old David and 18-year-old Jared, have also been forced to share a single bedroom for most of their lives here, which he called "a bit difficult, actually, because growing boys need space".
He said David was recently forced to move home from a nearby unit after his flatmates moved out and he was no longer able to afford the rent.
Roberto said he would consider "taking on another role, another job" or moving elsewhere if rental prices increase further.
Despite their hardships, the Jordans are “still keeping our fingers crossed" they'll one day own a home of their own.
Renters United spokesperson Geordie Rogers told 1News while people who are renting have a set budget, "quite often you'll get that first set of results and nothing will be feasible".
"So you'll keep bumping up that budget until you can find a place, even if that means sacrificing food."
Rogers said the advocacy group is seeing "more and more income going towards housing" in both the rental and home ownership space, with people on low incomes the worst affected.
"Landlords are free to increase rent once a year and there's very little legislation about how much they can actually increase that by," he explained.
He said people going without to make ends meet is "extremely unfair", adding that the Government "continues to enable the exploitation of tenants at the cost of other necessities like food, going to the GP, catching the bus to work opportunities".
"If the Government does not intervene, we will continue to see people giving up things that allow them to reach out in life and perform to their real dreams, what they actually deserve. At the moment, what the Government is putting people in is a position where they're spending more and more money on the exact same quality of house – the only person winning here is landlords."
Rogers called on the Government to enforce rent indexation, which Housing Associate Minister Poto Williams had backed, to allow landlords to increase rent in line with the cost of living annually, but only on the day the contract came into force.
"What we need is these leaders who pride themselves on moving people out of poverty to step up and follow Poto's lead and implement rent indexation."
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