Mr Cull said ‘‘professional landlords'' mostly provided decent homes, but those with only one rental - perhaps a retirement investment - were letting properties deteriorate.
A report released under the Official Information Act expressed concern about Dunedin's ‘‘substandard'' private rental stock in an assessment of the city as a refugee settlement location.
Officials awarded the city refugee settlement status partly because community support for the move outweighed the housing quality concern. Refugees - who will arrive in groups of about 45 - will, in many cases, be allocated state or social housing.
Mr Cull said the housing issue worried him - not just for newcomers, but for anyone renting. The ‘‘investment community'' needed to take a ‘‘hard look'' at what it provided.
‘‘There's too many private rentals that are, frankly, not worthy of renting.‘‘It's people who buy a place to get an income ... and they're determined to squeeze every cent out of it ... and the place deteriorates.
‘‘These people are probably not members of the property investment associations, but there's a lot of them.''
The city council had no power to force landlords to improve their properties, Mr Cull said.
Metro Property Management chief executive Steven Sharp said there was more demand than ever for quality rental houses in Dunedin, and he believed the market would tighten further in coming years.
‘‘There's only so many roofs in Dunedin, and we're not building them fast enough.''
Mr Sharp said the city needed increased housing supply, and progress on that issue was made difficult by consent processing delays at the Dunedin City Council.
When contacted, DCC chief executive Sue Bidrose acknowledged the issue with building consent delays, but said the situation would improve. The city council planned to beef up its building consent unit with new staff.
Extra capacity would mean Dunedin applications would always be at the front of the queue, she said.
The Ministry of Social Development was tight-lipped when asked about the availability of housing for refugees.
‘‘We assist with benefit applications, job searching and help with finding a place to live.
‘‘This will include applying for social housing in some cases.
‘‘If a suitable Housing New Zealand property is not available, we'll work with other housing providers to try and find one.''
The spokesman said MSD could not comment on the housing market, but he pointed out that an online rental advertising website featured more than 650 rentals in Dunedin.
Asked for a response to that, Mr Sharp said: ‘‘OK, you come down here with your family, and choose one, because of those properties, how many would you want to live in?''
