Hon POTO WILLIAMS (Associate Minister of Housing (Public Housing)): And can I congratulate the member on—welcome to housing. There are a range of measures used to analyse rent prices of which Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) rental bond data is one. The Government uses the Stats New Zealand rental price index, which shows that, from October 2017 to December 2021, rents rose 16.4 percent. To put this in context, we saw the same 16.4 percent increase between August 2013 and October 2017. According to MBIE tenancy bond data, the national weekly median rent was $400 in October 2017 and $550 in January 2022. I would note that officials and commentators have warned that the MBIE data is often significantly revised, often downwards. That is due to bonds for more expensive properties being lodged earlier, and lower bonds being lodged later. This can result in exaggerated rent increase data for the most recent months. This Government recognises that the rental market is under pressure right now and we will continue to support renters and that is why we have limited rent increases to once a year, banned rental bidding, and increased the wages and benefits for low and middle income earners.