Media Release
13 August 2004
30,000 New Zealanders turn to the Internet to find flats and flatmates
Independent website nzflatmates has confirmed the trend that an increasing number of people are turning to the Internet
to do their daily business by announcing that over 30,000 people have joined its website to find a flat or flatmate.
Brook Ballantyne from Auckland says, “nzflatmates is awesome – we found a new flatmate thanks to them. She was in the
country one day and that night came to check the place out – success, she moved in the next day!”
Brett Jones, also from Auckland says, "I found a flat the first time that I used nzflatmates. The flat had been listed
on the site for only an hour by another first time user! I'm now living in a great flat with a great flatmate. An
awesome site."
nzflatmates sets itself apart from similar websites and publications by carrying listings that are rich with detail both
about the flat, but also the flatmates. Potential flatmates can learn all sorts of things about the people they will be
living with, including their age; gender; sexuality and even their cleaning and cooking habits.
nzflatmates bucked the online trend in February this year when it introduced a small membership fee to find a flat.
Despite this, the independent site has continued to experience strong growth in the face of high profile free rivals to
reach this important milestone.
“By introducing a small membership fee to find a flat we were able to improve the quality of enquiries for people who
list their flat, effectively removing the time-wasters that plague the free sites and publications,” says Dylan Bland,
managing director of nzflatmates.
nzflatmates was launched in December 2002 by then twenty year-old Dylan Bland, who was motivated to build the site after
he unsuccessfully turned to the Internet to find a flat of his own. He now lives in a flat in Central Auckland that he
found using nzflatmates.
nzflatmates can be viewed at: www.nzflatmates.co.nz
nzflatmates – Highly Commended, Best Youth Web Site, NetGuide Web Awards 2003