Holiday rentals make it difficult to find permanent accommodation in Te Anau

She landed her dream job, but finding a place to live proved more difficult

Lydia McLean got a full-time job with the Department of Conservation in Te Anau, but she says the prevalence of short-term holiday rentals made it very difficult to find accommodation.

McLean was offered the new job several months ago, but can’t move until next week after finally finding a place to settle.

“Nothing is really announced in Te Anau. It’s incredibly difficult to find a place to live,” she said.

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“It must be very difficult for people working in hospitality and those seasonal jobs – the place can’t grow and function well if there’s nowhere to live.”

McLean currently lives in Queenstown, where she is already seeing firsthand the effects of being surrounded by vacation rentals.

“There is no community. Nobody knows each other and that’s just a little wrong. I know a lot of people who want to live here, who are really talented, educated people who can’t come here because there’s nowhere to live.

McLean has written to Southland MP Joseph Mooney and Housing Minister Megan Woods about the matter.

In her letter, she says, “By allowing airbnbs to dominate, there is no more room for workers. I understand the benefits that tourism brings to the region, but if 100% of the rental housing stock is occupied by short-term accommodation, how can we attract new talent, families and tourism staff to the region? Long-term residents are directed to the holiday park while short-term visitors stay in airbnbs,”

Mooney was unable to comment on the issue on Monday and she did not hear back from Woods.

Southland District Mayor Rob Scott said council was aware of the problem but there was no “quick fix” to fix it.

“It’s a national issue – how do you get to your first home or find a place to rent?” he said.

“This is clearly a problem and the board has an obligation not to put its head in the sand to find solutions.

“Converting airbnbs to longer term rentals in Te Anau will not solve the problem. One of the things we need to do, in my opinion, is to open up more land for development, so that we can add more of housing into the equation and having more taxpayers to share the burden.

Beyond 2025 Southland has launched a community survey to better understand housing needs in the south.

The results will be used to help inform the development of a housing strategy and regional spatial plan, which will guide the type of housing that is to be provided as the Southland develops over the next 30 years.

Beyond 2025 Southland housing advisory group chair Steve Parry said in a statement that the survey was a crucial step in developing a coordinated approach to housing in the region.

“Housing is a critical issue for our community and this survey provides a great opportunity to understand what the people who live and work in our region need in terms of where and how they live,” he said. .

Southland’s GDP was above the national average and it had the lowest unemployment rate since 2013 at 2.6%, Parry said.

“However, we face challenges in housing and accommodation space. Our employers are increasingly noticing that the shortage of housing creates constraints on employment, particularly with the recruitment of young people. At the same time, our waiting lists for rental accommodation have increased by more than 15% in recent times,” he said.

Beyond 2025, Southland is the long-term planning work stream of Southland’s Just Transition Work Plan and Southland’s Updated Regional Development Strategy 2015-2025.