Bose Vavataga 
Nadi Chamber of Commerce President, Lawrence Kumar. [Photo: BOSE VAVATAGA]
Nadi is the country’s tourism hub, drawing in workers from across Fiji, but finding a place to live is becoming a struggle, with a shortage of affordable housing and rising rents putting pressure on families.
Nadi Chamber of Commerce President, Lawrence Kumar, says Fiji is short of up to 20,000 affordable homes, with high construction costs pushing more people into renting.
But renting is no relief. Concerns raised during the budget consultation highlight that rental prices in Nadi remain high, with some landlords increasing rents after renovations despite a rental freeze.
“If you had heard, one of the members who attended raised that the cost of rental is quite enormously high in Nadi, and there needs to be a regulation around it. Even though the minister said there is a rental freeze on it, property owners are getting around it”
Long-time Nadi resident Bulou Lele Wilson says rental costs have surged from under $500 for a one-bedroom unit in the past to more than $500 today, with some reaching up to $1,000 a month.
Wilson says the situation is affecting younger people, many of whom are struggling to secure affordable accommodation and are being pushed further into financial pressure.
She also points to the high cost of land, noting that native lease land can now exceed $100,000, making it even harder for young couples to buy and build homes.
“A younger couple, they would have to be both working in order to get themselves a property”
There are calls for stronger action to regulate rental prices and improve housing access, with greater collaboration between government and the private sector being proposed as the way forward.
