Rent rises are coming for tenants in Auckland as the market catches up with skyrocketing house prices.
The industry says January is the best time for landlords to review their rent and consider increasing it.
And it's come as a shock to those who are already struggling to find a home.
A place for rent at an affordable price is a sight getting harder to find in Auckland.
And as landlords use the New Year to reassess rent there's a warning to tenants - the price is rising.
"I believe there is room for movement and I think we're going to see that in the next few months," says Auckland Property Investors' Association (APIA) president Andrew Bruce.
APIA says raising the rent is just good business sense.
"Landlording is a business, it isn't a set and forget investment," says Mr Bruce.
But for low-income renters like university students it's a blow many budgets can hardly endure.
"Students are facing a crisis in terms of the cost of living. Auckland students are already paying the most in the country, and it's quite obvious that that's a struggle," says Auckland University's Student Association (AUSA) president Will Matthews.
The proof of that struggle isn't hard to find at AUSA where even the treasurer says his sums don't add up.
"It just tends to be the case that you eat a little bit more into debt each week," says Dean Cutfield.
And it's a problem that stretches all over Auckland.
Auckland rents reached record highs last year averaging more than $500 a week. But even that was out of step with skyrocketing house prices which went up an average of more than 14 percent while rents lagged behind at just under 9 percent.
This year the gap is likely to close with the industry warning increasing costs will inevitably need to be passed on to tenants.
"Rates always go up, insurance always goes up. Yes interest rates are low but people have taken on bigger mortgages to buy these. The average price in Auckland is very, very expensive," says Mr Bruce.
Those on low incomes say even small change will make for increasingly empty pockets.
"What might be just $10 for a landlord, that is the difference between one or two good meals a week for a student," says Mr Cutfield.
The signs clear to see for Auckland tenants this year could be the year rising rents hit home.
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