How costs compare between different landlords

It says there are people and organisations that would prefer rental properties were in the hands of social landlords, such as Kainga Ora or Community Housing Providers (CHPs).

As a step to dissuade private landlords from buying existing properties for rentals, the Government has instigated tax changes, which increases the demand for social housing. That list has grown from 5,000 in 2017 to 27,000. The Government is also encouraging private rental property owners to provide their properties to Kainga Ora and CHPs for them to run as rentals.

The federation says the Government did this by removing mortgage interest as a tax deduction to private rental property owners. If those owners agree to hand over their rentals to social landlords they can keep the tax deduction.

However, social landlords offer tenants cheaper rent than their private counterparts through Government funding under the Income Related Rents (IRR) programme. This subsidy allows social housing providers to charge tenants just 25% of their income for rent, with the Government topping this up to market rent level, paid directly to the social housing provider.