'Sleeping in my car next to a $15m house' – Life in Queenstown's housing crisis

The tourists are back in bigger numbers than ever but behind the beauty, boutiques and big business, hardworking Kiwis live in cars and tents. Sunday’s Conor Whitten meets the faces of Queenstown's housing crisis – with good jobs, good incomes and nowhere to call home.

At the foot of Bob’s Peak in central Queenstown is one of the best views on Earth. As the sun sets across Lake Wakatipu, the snow-capped Remarkables gleam in gold.

It’s here that we meet Tyler Tipene, who made it his home throughout winter.

Not in a house – or even a campground.

"I just slept in my car," he said.

In the back of a station wagon he calls Lucy, Tyler made his bed each night. His high-vis jacket slung over the seat; the rest of his clothes in a black rubbish bag.

"It’s just really depressing. Yeah, depressing is the word," he said.

It wasn’t for lack of income. The 24-year-old works full-time in construction.

Just a few hundred metres away is the Skyline Gondola, ferrying tourists to the top of Bob’s Peak.

By day, Tyler helped redevelop the Skyline – a $250 million project.

At night, he would hunt for a place to sleep.

"I would go to work at 7, work until 5. And then after work I would be driving around," Tipene said. "Just seeing where no one was.

"Once I parked I would find somewhere to eat and find somewhere to shower and then come back and chill in my car and then go to sleep and wake up for the next day."

This is a town of contradictions: extreme hardship – and obscene wealth.

"Queenstown is sleeping in my car next to a $15m house," he said.

"There are hundreds of people like me but no one sees it.

"They just see the tourists, the mountains and they think 'this is beautiful'. But they don’t really see what is going on."

After years of disruption due to Covid-19, tourists are back in bigger numbers than ever.

Approximately 300,813 international visitors flew into Queenstown between January and September this year – 35,000 more people than the same period in 2019.

But it isn’t just tourists adding to the pressure – the area is filling up with residents too.

Queenstown-Lakes District is the fastest growing place in the country. The population has grown by 8% – an extra 4000 people in the last 12 months.

"It’s not all Fergburgers and bungy jumping," Tipene said. "It’s hard for the workers and it is hard if you are trying to live here."

It’s left locals like Tipene with no other choice than to sleep in cars and tents.

"There isn’t any place that isn’t overrun with people looking for accommodation."

Tipene lived in his car for four and a half months, applying for "80 to 100" rentals. He finally found a flat with a friend in October. Now the pair have to share a room.

But his story is just one of many. Beneath the beauty, boutiques and big business, hardworking Kiwis are struggling to live.

"Everyone will leave," Tipene said. "If they are sick of it, they will leave. And who will do the work that needs to be done?"

As Queenstown itself overflows with people, its problems are spilling over the hill.

An hour across the Crown Range in Wānaka, we meet barista Rachel Stewart. She’s become a fixture at Ritual Cafe.

"There's probably 100 regular customers that I know personally by first name," she said. "It's a close-knit little town and I love that about Wānaka."

But living here has never been harder.

The six-month lease for her rental property is ending. She hasn’t been able to find a new one, despite looking for the last four months.

"I didn't think being 41 years of age and born and bred in New Zealand that I'd ever be struggling to find a home in my own country," Stewart said.

Cardboard boxes fill the floors when Sunday comes to visit, brimming with clothes, toiletries and dinner plates. All of Stewart's possessions are heading to storage.

She’s found herself out of options. So she, her son and her partner Lance are moving to a campground, where they will be sharing a tent.

"You just want to cry," she said. "You just want to curl up in a little ball and just cry and rock yourself to sleep at night."

The situation is a shock to the pair – both have solid jobs and can afford to pay the rent.

"He's a truck driver for a local company, and I'm a long-running cafe worker so it's not like we're on bad money," she said.

"It's not like we can't afford it. It's just the struggle of finding something."

They’ve applied for well over a dozen properties – with another three more on the day we visit.

But Stewart's getting tired of the rejection.

"We’re just in line with everybody else," she said. "I feel like I'm a little mouse treading water just trying to carry on every day."

Even those who have a rental property are feeling the effects of the housing squeeze.

In a simple two bedroom unit in Queenstown, we meet Shana Payne and her son Max.

Max, five, is teeming with energy. These four little walls can barely contain him, but they soon could be forced into something smaller.

Payne fears they may even have to share a room.

"We have tried that and it didn’t go so well," she said.

Queenstown is the most expensive rental market in the country.

Payne's rent has just gone up to $700 – too much for a single mum.

"When I questioned if there was any leeway, they just said to get another flatmate," she said.

The 40-year-old is a senior architect, but even that's not enough to pay the bills.

"The cost of living and the cost of the housing doesn't match up with the salary that you're getting paid," she said.

In the last five years, Queenstown’s population has risen by 10,000 people – nearly 25%.

But the number of bonds registered with Tenancy Services has fallen from 3315 to 3159.

Many locals blame the rise of short-term accommodation like Bookabach and Airbnb for the current crisis.

"The Airbnb stopped for a while," Payne said. "Those got taken up by rentals and now that Covid is over, they've gone back to being Airbnbs.

"Now you're inundated and you're up against so many people. You might not even get a call back."

It comes in spite of a surprising statistic – Queenstown consents and builds homes at a higher rate than anywhere else in the country.

But not for people like Payne and Max.

"I just feel like hotels and tourism takes precedent for those builds rather than the locals," she said. "It would be great to see, instead of a hotel being built in town, some affordable housing complexes."

They’ve joined a waitlist for affordable housing with the Queenstown Lakes Community Housing Trust – one of the few local organisations focused on homes at the bottom end.

But the need grows faster than the trust can build them.

Around 1100 other households are on the waitlist. Payne and Max have their hopes in check.

"I've had friends on that list for over two years. Another single mum," she said. "It’s just luck of the draw."

The divide is growing across the district.

Queenstown has always taken care of its tourists. But what about the people who call it home?