Trust easing the rent pain with rent freeze

Piers Fuller Reporter from News of Wairarapa

In response to the economic and social impact of the Covid-19 lockdown Trust House has put a freeze on planned rent increases and introduced other additional support for tenants.
With 483 rental properties in Wairarapa and Tararua, Trust House is one of the largest community housing providers in New Zealand.
Trust House chief executive Allan Pollard says rent increases of on average between $20 – $25 had been planned to take effect from the end of March.
“It became clear that the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the measures to combat it were going to hurt people financially, so we acted pretty much straight away and put them on hold,” Mr Pollard says.
The March rent increases, that were signalled in December last year, only related to tenants who are not on an Income Related Rent Subsidy. The rents that Trust House charge remain among the lowest in New Zealand, according to Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment data.
Mr Pollard says the organisation is very conscious that a number of their tenants will be doing it “really tough” during this time of tremendous uncertainty.
“We have been phoning all of our tenants weekly to make sure that they are okay and have everything they need.”
As an essential service Trust House has kept its Rental Housing office on Queen Street in Masterton open Monday to Friday, 10am – 1pm, to be available to tenants who require further support.