'Ferals' force rental properties off market

Papamoa landlord Trevor Davies said he was fed up trying to find 'suitable tenants'. Photo/George Novak

Western Bay landlords say Tauranga does not have a rental shortage, insisting that the "feral" behaviour of some prospective tenants is putting them off renting out their properties.

Bay landlords say they have seen it all, from patched gang members arriving to view a property, to sex workers keen to run their business from home, families of five looking to live in a one-bedroom unit and people who urinate in gardens while viewing a property.

Papamoa landlord Trevor Davies told the Bay of Plenty Times he was so fed up trying to find "suitable tenants" that he decided to take his one-bedroom unit off the rental market.

"I have had people turn up with a rottweiler when the advertisement distinctly states no dogs. I have had a woman wanting to ply her trade as a prostitute from my unit and all she was worried about was the lack of parking for her clients and I had another couple who asked if their elderly mother could live there and would I mind talking care of her?"

Mr Davies said he was "practically stalked" by another man who turned up to his house numerous times after viewing the rental, asking for the keys and yelling.

"Another woman showed up to view the unit in her pyjamas in the middle of the day and then there was a couple with three children who wanted a one-bedroom unit.

Mr Davies said he had decided to put his unit on bookabach.co.nz rather than deal with tenants who knew nothing about "etiquette".

"To me there is not a rental shortage, there is a lack of etiquette."

Mount Maunganui property owner Sharon Waka's three-bedroom Pyes Pa home has been empty for almost two months and she is not rushing to advertise it again after a "gang" wanted to move in.

"I took these two guys to look at the house and five more turned up, all with patched leather jackets on," she said.

"One of them urinated on my flower garden as I was unlocking the front door to let them in to look, right in front of me. It was shocking."

"Other people have refused to let me do a credit check, and some turn up in their nightwear and tell me they have no regular income.

"They are total ferals and they want to move into my rental that took me years to pay off."

New Zealand Property Investors Federation northern region representative Dan Keller said while the majority of tenants were good, landlords were right to follow their instinct if they had concerns.

Figures released by Trade Me last week showed a drop in rental accommodation in Tauranga.