A resident of a street where an empty house went up in flames on Saturday morning thinks someone angry about the housing crisis could be to blame.
Police are investigating after a fire broke out in the Auckland suburb of Mt Wellington.
Fire and Emergency received a call at 2:50am on Saturday after reports of smoke coming from the Aranui Rd property.
The three-bedroom rental had been advertised on the 'Buy and Sell Auckland Central' Facebook page at $700 a week.
Users called it a rip-off, an "overpriced shithole" and a prime example of the housing crisis in Auckland.
"It's called 'charge the highest rent possible' for a dodgy-looking house and hope someone desperate enough will answer," one person commented.
"When is this greedy madness going to stop? I hope they can sleep well at night knowing they rip off people already struggling," another wrote.
One Aranui Rd resident told Newshub he believes the fire might have been linked to the Facebook post.
"I can only assume it was an outcome from that Facebook post," he told Newshub. "I understand there are a lot of angry people out there trying to live in decent housing - I truly do understand - but this action puts surrounding houses in danger.
"There are a lot of families around here with kids. This is just next-level."
Auckland median rents hit $590 a week in March, according to Trade Me data.
Fire and Emergency told Newshub a fire investigator is at the scene and police are investigating the "suspicious" incident.
A scene examination will be conducted on Saturday.
The property manager has been contacted for comment.
