Figures from March this year show the University of Otago had 1300 more than last year, and Otago Polytechnic an increase of more than 750.
The increase in demand and shortage of flats had led to students inquiring about flats for 2022 in March this year, Colliers International specialist residential investment broker Matt Morton said.
Inquiries usually started in May.
Mr Morton believed there was a major lack of supply.
"There is not a lot of extra stock coming to the market and there are no major developments happening either," he said.
"That is often what you see when you try to meet that extra demand but there isn’t anywhere to do it."
He believed there were "more pressures to come" when international students were allowed back in the country.
Otago University Students’ Association president Michaela Waite-Harvey said students had reported "massive" rent increases — of up to $40 a room — for 2022, with no improvements made to the properties.
"We have heard anecdotally of landlords increasing rents alongside the increase in student allowance of $25.
"This type of greed is to rife among landlords and without government intervention that morally deficient behaviour will persist," Ms Waite-Harvey said.
The earlier inquiries were a reflection of the growing squeeze on the housing market in the student area, she said.
"As student numbers grow, housing is not keeping up with demand and the stock that is available is of such poor standard students are forced to move further and further out of the traditional student area.
"Not only are students trying to secure flats earlier, but they are continuing to struggle to find affordable, healthy flats," Ms Waite-Harvey said.
Otago Property Investors Association president Kathryn Seque said the rent increase had been caused by government policy.
"Some landlords might be putting their prices up far too much, some may not be putting them up and meeting market rent at all — it really depends on the landlord.
"But most of the increases we are seeing this year are due to the healthy homes requirements, which all flats will have to meet next year.
"So you have got a massive increase in cost and a lot of landlords didn’t put their rents up for the 2021 year because of Covid," she said.
From a landlord’s perspective, inquiries had been starting "earlier and earlier" each year, Ms Seque said.
"Our members have been trying to push them back until at least April but it just getting to a point where there are so many texts and phone calls going backwards and forwards it is ridiculous," she said.
Related Stories
Comments
Morally deficient market.
"This type of greed is to rife among landlords and without [the use of force] that morally deficient behaviour will persist," Ms Waite-Harvey said.
I hope she realises that if landlords charged less rent, there'd be the same number of rentals available, and in fact probably fewer. The government (central, regional, and local) is in fact the root cause, putting limits on development that would increase housing supply. A "greedy landlord" wants there to be more places to rent out, not fewer...
I hope you realise that landlords get this reputation when the do things like increase rents by the exact amount, if not more, of any increases in student allowance - benefits etc, as if other living costs don't increase too. How many passed on savings made from record low interest rates , ie the roars of complaints over removal of interest deductibility which amounts to less than a 1% rate rise by the banks and how they will have to put rents up when those bank rates have fallen much more etc .
...then there is the added cost of increased rates, insurances, compliances. And when interest rates increase, again, so will rents.