A major new survey of renters across Aotearoa is painting a bleak picture of life in the rental market, with half of respondents spending more than half their income on rent and more than four in ten reporting problems with mould, dampness or draughts.
The Aotearoa Renters’ Survey 2026, produced by Renters United and ActionStation, gathered responses from 3,310 renters nationwide and was launched in Lower Hutt over the weekend. It comes nearly a decade after the organisations’ People’s Review of Renting.
The report argues that despite suggestions the balance of the rental market has shifted towards tenants in some parts of the country, many renters remain under significant financial pressure and feel insecure about challenging landlords over poor conditions.
Rent swallowing household incomes
Affordability emerges as one of the clearest problems.
The survey found 78.4 percent of respondents estimated they were spending at least 30 percent of their weekly income on rent, while 11.5 percent reported spending 80 percent or more.
Around half were spending more than half their income on rent.
And falling or stabilising rents in some markets appear to be offering little immediate relief.
More than 90 percent of respondents had neither received nor requested a rent reduction during the previous six months.
For whānau already facing food, electricity, transport and other household costs, the amount disappearing into rent can leave increasingly little room for everything else.
Cold and mould remain stubborn problems
Housing quality is another major concern.
The survey found 42.7 percent of respondents reported problems with mould, dampness or draughts, while 18.7 percent believed their property was not compliant with Healthy Homes Standards.
That is despite the Healthy Homes Standards now applying to all private rentals.
Those standards establish minimum requirements covering heating, insulation, ventilation, moisture and drainage, and draught stopping.
The survey findings do not establish the national compliance rate, because respondents were self-selecting rather than a representative sample of all renters. But they provide a substantial snapshot of the problems experienced by thousands of tenants.
Separate government research published this year also continues to identify unresolved issues in rental properties, including drainage and other Healthy Homes requirements.
Renters afraid to challenge landlords
Perhaps one of the more troubling findings is how powerless some renters feel when something goes wrong.
The survey found 91.4 percent had either never used a 14-day notice to remedy a breach or had never heard of the process, despite numerous respondents reporting maintenance problems.
Renters United says insecurity has been heightened by the return of no-cause tenancy terminations, leaving some renters worried that pushing too hard for repairs or challenging a landlord could ultimately cost them their home.
Housing stability is also an issue.
Almost 38 percent of respondents had rented ten or more properties during their lifetime, while more than 70 percent had lived in their current rental for fewer than five years.
That instability can have consequences beyond housing itself, disrupting schooling, employment, relationships with neighbours and connections with local communities.
Māori housing inequity sits behind wider debate
For Māori, rental policy is particularly significant because persistent inequalities in home ownership mean many whānau remain exposed to changes in rents, tenancy law and housing quality.
The issues identified by the survey — affordability, healthy housing, security and the power imbalance between landlord and tenant — therefore sit within a much broader conversation about housing inequality in Aotearoa.
And with Election 2026 underway, Renters United wants those issues firmly on the political agenda.
Renters United puts solutions on the table
Alongside the survey, Renters United has released its A Better Future for Renters policy platform and is calling on political parties to adopt its recommendations.
Among its proposals are requiring landlords to negotiate rent increases with tenants, enabling renters to organise collectively through renters’ unions, making mediation the default approach to disputes and strengthening enforcement of Healthy Homes Standards.
The organisation argues tougher enforcement is needed against landlords who repeatedly fail to meet their legal responsibilities.
Its position is that renting has become a long-term reality for a growing number of New Zealanders and the system therefore needs to provide the stability, affordability and quality traditionally associated with having a home.
The survey is advocacy research rather than a representative government measure, so its results should not be read as describing every renter in New Zealand.
But 3,310 renters telling remarkably similar stories about high costs, insecurity and unhealthy homes is difficult for politicians to ignore.
As Election 2026 gathers pace, the message from Renters United is straightforward: if renting is now home for hundreds of thousands of New Zealand households, renters want a system that actually allows them to live like it is.
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