Smart Money

“The student community is disproportionately impacted by the cost of living crisis,”says Matthew Lee, a student in his third year of a Bachelor of Arts and Laws conjoint degree at the University of Auckland. Lee is founder and spokesperson of Students for Fair Rent, a student- led organisation advocating for safe, secure, and affordable accommodation for students at the University of Auckland.
Echoing countless news items about students forgoing food, working two jobs or ditching study entirely due to the skyrocketing costs of essential goods and services, Lee tells North & South that “part of our campaign is trying to lift voices in the wider conversation about cost-of-living.”
This May, in the wake of an almost 8 percent rent increase from 2023 to 2024, Students for Fair Rent organised a rent strike involving between 16 and 200 students in University of Auckland accommodation. The University says 16 (of 4200 total) student accommodation residents provided notice they were participating in the rent strike. Lee responds that Students for Fair Rent had nearly 200 registered strikers, who were discouraged from disclosing to the University why they were withholding rent as a form of collective security.
This numerical dispute is one of many disagreements between the two parties, with the protest quickly erupting into a war of words across RNZ, Newstalk ZB, The Spinoff and the rest. Throughout the protest, which ended as strikers approached the $3000 debt tolerance that can initiate eviction proceedings, the University maintained that students are aware of what they are committing to when they sign their rental agreement. Nonetheless, Students for Fair Rent contend that these expenses are excessive to the point of exploitation.
In an interview with The Detail, Brendan Mosely, director of Campus Life (UoA’s student services), suggested Students for Fair Rent is unwilling to acknowledge the narrow margins university accommodation operates on. Moseley notes that 2024 will be the first year since 2019 that Campus Life is set to be in the black. Lee acknowledges that the University has rising costs but cannot abide the 8 per cent rise, a rate of increase higher than annual inflation any year this millennium.
According to Tenancy Services (as of June 2024), the median weekly rent for a four-bedroom apartment in Auckland CBD — the equivalent of Lee’s uncatered student accommodation — is $783, or $195.75 per person. Lee pays $350 per week and doesn’t think the bundled amenities, including water, power, internet, security, laundry and gym access, constitute an additional $154.25.
If you’ve rented in Auckland, or any other New Zealand city for that matter, you may be shaking your head right about now. $150 for all that, and you live in the middle of the city? It may not be ideal, but this price sounds somewhat standard for 2024. But is it fair to expect students to pay market rate when Student Allowance is capped at $358.78 weekly (after tax) — and only increased 5.3 per cent in the same period as the 8 per cent rent increase — and Student Loan living costs at $316.39 (split with Student Allowance)? Student Allowance/living costs might cover rent, but not food, a mobile plan, or any of the pleasures that make life worth living.