Locals say finding a place to live on Waiheke Island is getting harder and harder, and are worried new relaxed rules for digital nomads could mean more pressure. Photo: Supplied/ Auckland Council
Some Waiheke residents are worried 'digital nomads' could invade their island paradise under the government's new rules.
One advocate said the island was already facing a housing crisis, and wealthy visitors could force locals out of a dwindling supply of rentals.
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"The housing situation on Waiheke is pretty dire, so we have the most upside down income to rent ratio in the country, even worse than Queenstown," Waiheke Community Housing Trust general manager Damian Sycamore said.
"There's approximately 6000 dwellings on Waiheke, and over 1000 [bed and breakfasts], so that's almost 20 percent."
Last week, the government announced new rules for visitors allowing them to work remotely for a foreign employer for up to nine months.
So-called digital nomads had been growing in number since 2020, high-wage workers discovering they could mix business and pleasure.
Sycamore feared inviting these nomads to Waiheke would be disastrous for the island's fragile housing market.
"What we do know is that there's approximately 30 to 60 million digital nomads currently in the world," he said.
"We know they have stacks of cash and get paid big bickies whilst they're travelling internationally, but they will be able to outbid Waiheke's low incomes for a dwindling pool of houses that are available to rent."
Waiheke Local Board deputy chairwoman Kylee Matthews said it was a fear shared by many residents.
"There's a lot of people that are already concerned on our Facebook page, our community notice board, where they just say 'here we go again, long-term residents are going to get pushed out by short-term nomads'," Matthews said.
"Also a lot of younger families that usually rent on the island, they're already looking elsewhere."
CoreLogic senior property economist Kelvin Davidson did not think the new rules would leave much of a mark on New Zealand's overall property market, but he said digital nomads could make bigger waves in high-demand areas, like Waiheke Island.
"There's always going to be some local impacts. ...Your inner city apartments - it might produce a bit of marginal extra demand for that type of property," he said.
"There'll be locations as well where there is a bit of marginal extra demand: ...I suspect Waiheke Island would be on that list. You could probably have areas like Queenstown, all of the sort of usual suspects."
Many properties on Waiheke Island doubled as bed and breakfasts during peak summer months. For the rest of the year they were medium-term rentals, with locals only having access for about six months at a time.
Waiheke Homes real estate firm co-owner Paul Brisbane said that had made renting a challenge for many residents.
"There are people who are finding it tough to get rental property on Waiheke for that kind of period," he said.
"They're taking shorter terms because they just can't find anything for longer. So if they've now got a whole new class of visitor who is able to take something for that amount of time, then I guess there is going to be more demand."
The Housing Trust's Damian Sycamore was worried an influx of digital nomads could make that model more popular.
"Island residents and locals, they don't want to just exist in a space for less than a year. They want to build a home," he said.
"They want to go to those schools. They want to build a place in the community. And a house cannot be [both] a home and a place for short-term rentals."
He said it remained to be seen just how much of a difference the new rules made, but it was yet another reason to be worried for Waiheke's future.
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