Latest / The Kākā by Bernard Hickey
No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents.
That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport, but they’re not, and the history of interest rates halving from 2009 to 2021 while rents doubled also shows that’s wrong.
‘I think if you're a renter, you're very grateful for the fact that actually costs that have been passed on to landlords are not being passed on to you.’ Christopher…
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