Rental constraint puts life on hold for New Plymouth's mother of three

All Melissa Phillips wants is a home for her three children before Christmas.

But like dozens of others in New Plymouth, she struggles to find a rental property, as a shortage of supplies sees people without a "perfect" record miss.

Phillips is one of those who do not look good on paper.

"I do not want to say that I feel discriminated against, but I'm starting to feel it because I'm an isolated parent and I'm now enjoying the benefit.It's a fear for homeowners because of what they have experienced "Phillips said.

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"They do not have much confidence, but I do not blame them, some have had bad experiences and now they know what they want."

The 24-year-old has been living with his friends and family since June after a fire left the mother of his three children homeless.

Phillips had his two elders sleep in a room with the radiator. She said that her daughter had thrown a pillow from the bed on the radiator, which eventually caused a fire, damaging the room.

"I still want some today."

She also has a bad credit rating due to unpaid bills between her and a former partner.

Over the past three months, Phillips has visited more than 40 properties and missed everything she asked. She says that she feels that her life has been put on hold.

Her main concerns now concern her children Kendrick Phillips, 4, and Tia-Marie Phillips, 2, and Recaro Fry, 10 months – who are currently separated due to her housing situation.

"I have to be a bit difficult for the health of my children, my son has asthma and his immune system is weak, and they get sick quickly in cold damp houses."

Phillips, who claims to be a trustworthy person, quiet with excellent references, documents every property for which she applies in a book.

"Do you know how ripping it is to write houses and scratch them?"

Last week, Pam Hight, head of the rental division of McDonald Real Estate, said the rental demand in New Plymouth exceeded supply.

She explained that the shortage was due to a number of factors, including people staying longer in their homes, higher compliance costs to meet rental standards, and fewer people choosing to rent their property at the time. sales.

David Scognamiglio, of the Credit Simple free credit check website, said it was possible for people to improve their credit rating if it allowed them to get a property.

He said that they should start paying their debt, even if it is not the total amount. And they should continue to pay their bills as usual to "show that you are a good payer".

The owner of New Plymouth, Dayna Toia, said that being a homeowner was not easy and that she had decided to sell a rental property that she owned with her partner because of the difficulty of finding good tenants.

She said that they continue to give people a chance and that they should each time take some of their tenant's surety to cover the costs of repairs.

"Every single one we had was a nightmare," says Toia.

Over the past three years, they had to replace the kitchen floor, the bathroom floor, dig up the backyard after removing the pile of garbage left by the tenants and revitalize and repaint the walls.

"It's so stressful."