landlords

By KERRIE WATERWORTH Concerns about ‘‘extremely high’’ rent prices, the high cost of heating, access to mental  health services and an over-reliance on tourism are among issues raised in Queenstown’s council’s most recent ‘quality of life’ survey. The third annual survey...

By PHILIP CHANDLER A Queenstown adventure tourism company’s hibernating as it’s on ‘‘a hiding to nothing’’ till borders reopen. Canyon Explorers is pulling the plug this coming Monday, though its fulltimers — three guides and a frontliner — have all found...

We all read with interest Darren Lovell’s piece about Queenstown’s stampeding elephant and how local businesses are hurting (MS, Nov 26). Now let’s address some of the misconceived comments about tourism and business in a Covid-19 world. Tourism businesses in Queenstown,...

By PHILIP CHANDLER Despite continuing Covid-19-induced uncertainty, Queenstown’s residential property market’s proving to be remarkably resilient. That’s the key finding from Colliers International’s just-released ‘Otago Market Review and Outlook 2020/21’. The firm’s local registered valuer/property consultant Heather Beard says: '‘In the short...

By MATTHEW MCKEW If something doesn’t change, Queenstown’s once thriving hostel industry will collapse — and, yet again, visas are a crucial issue. It’s led to a suggestion internationals living in Australia, who’ve already had  working holiday visa in New Zealand,...

A Queenstown meth addict’s been sentenced to nine months’ home detention for offering to sell the class A drug, and possessing it for supply. He’s also been ordered to pay his ex-landlords $4250, largely to recover the costs for meth...

By PHILIP CHANDLER If anyone knows how hard Queenstown’s retail scene is, not least this year, it’s local couple Judy and John Knight, who this week mark 25 years in business. They’ve had Outside Sports — specialising in ski, hike, bike and...

By PHILIP CHANDLER Inland Revenue (IRD) is cutting some slack for landlords moving homes or rooms from Airbnb-type platforms to long-term rentals. The short-term rental market took a dive when inbound tourism was shut down due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Many landlords...

By PHILIP CHANDLER When Queenstown's tourism economy stopped overnight in March, so did income for thousands of those renting out homes or rooms on Airbnb-type platforms. Anecdotally, many of these landlords, especially those dependent on that income, switched their homes/rooms into...

If business wasn't tough enough for Queenstown's hospo outlets before the Covid-19 closedown, it'll be far more on a knife-edge once lockdown ends even if there's less competition, with some operators not reopening. PHILIP CHANDLER talks to four long-time operators about how they'll...

By PHILIP CHANDLER A long-time Queenstown realtor believes the local property market will ride out the Covid-19 pandemic relatively unscathed. Harcourts Queenstown principal Kelvin Collins says his confidence is based on the fundamentals of the market being sounder than during earlier...