As if the cost of living wasn't already sky-high, now rental prices have surged yet again to an average of $575 a week, an increase of 7 percent on last year.
The Salvation Army stacks boxes of food that will be divvied up into parcels for those most in need, and as rents rise so too does the demand for food parcels.
"The rent increases are huge and it's having a real impact on whanau, their ability to provide the necessities," said Porirua's Salvation Army Nicki Dutton.
Especially for residents in Porirua which has again been awarded the unwanted title of most expensive rent prices in the country. Porirua residents pay an average of $670 a week.
"It's so expensive, it's even harder to look for rental property," one resident said.
"We are really struggling with the price of everything, especially housing and when it comes down to food [and] essential stuff," another told Newshub.
The struggle to live is so bad that many people simply can't afford it.
"Lots of people are staying with friends or staying in cars, a lot of overcrowding. I've heard recently of a family of 13, extended whanau in a three-bedroom house," Dutton said.
But it isn't just residents in Porirua struggling, rents across the country are up 7 percent from $540 to $575 a week, an increase of $35.
Taranaki had the biggest increase - a huge jump, up 18 percent on last year.
For Manawatu and Whanganui rents increased 14 percent and Auckland was up 3 percent.
"In February rents reached an all-time high of $575 and that was matched in the month of March," said Trade Me's Gavin Lloyd.
And what renters get for the amount of money they pay varies greatly.
Wellington renter George Edwards and his three friends pay $1040 a week for their four-bedroom home which is riddled with mould.
"Not worth it for what we're paying, everything has just increased so it is hard."
Especially hard when Edwards faces winter in a mouldy flat.
