Wellington City Mission and Emerge Aotearoa in Waikato are the first organisations to deliver the two-year trial. Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka announced that up to 100 participants will receive personalised assistance to address complex needs.

Wrap-around services could include access to healthcare, budgeting advice, employment support, counselling and tenancy guidance. Help with reconnecting to family and community would also be provided.

Critical gaps addressed

Murray Edridge (pictured with Tama Potaka), Chief Executive of Wellington City Mission, welcomed the initiative saying it addresses critical gaps in existing support systems.

Eldridge said he opposed emergency housing "for a long time" because of the lack of support for those using it. "They don't leave better than they came… I suspect they leave worse."

"This gives us the opportunity to work more creatively with people, helping them make good decisions and transition to a better housing situation" he said. "Housing alone isn't the solution - addressing challenges like mental health, addiction and family disconnection is just as vital."

Trusted to deliver

The trial is part of a broader government effort to reduce reliance on emergency housing. The goal is to cut its use by 75% by 2030.

Potaka said the first focus in achieving the target was to move "whanau with tamariki out of emergency housing motels and into more stable housing through our Priority One policy".

Earlier measures have helped move hundreds of families, including more than 1400 children, into stable accommodation.

Edridge said the City Mission and Emerge Aotearoa were being trusted to deliver what was needed rather than doing just what the government told them to do.

"This is an opportunity where the government has said 'We trust you as a provider … to do some things a wee bit differently and be innovative in how you approach the issues' - so that is different, that is new, and I hope it will enable us to make real progress with some of the people who have been in emergency housing for way too long."

Sources

RNZ

Beehive Releases

CathNews New Zealand

Figures obtained from a written Parliamentary Question from National's Chris Bishop paint a worsening picture across much of the lower and central North Island for those seeking a place to live.

The Ministry of Social Development figures show as of June 2023, the average consecutive time a person was spending at an emergency housing facility in Upper Hutt was 50 weeks - just two weeks shy of a full year. Read more

And, while the prospect of visitors returning to Marlborough in their droves would be seen by many as a welcome step forward, it could mean taking a monumental step backwards for those in emergency accommodation.

Since the country's borders closed in March 2020 as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, hotels and motels had opened their doors to those who were in need of emergency housing.

The scheme was run by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development which offered short and long term contracts to motel owners willing to take in the homeless. Read more

Palmerston North mother Lisa Wesselson made a desperate plea for housing when the place she called home was suddenly not hers anymore.

Toxic mould had become evident in the house her family rented and the landlord decided to renovate and sell the property.

The pregnant mother, who is nearing the end of her time, said it was a struggle to find a suitable home for her husband and children, despite having references and an income.

Prospective landlords and property managers turned their noses up when she mentioned how many children she has.

Three weeks before the end of their tenancy, Wesselson put up a plea asking for help on her Facebook page and told her story to Stuff.

"We've been looking at three or four-bedroom houses," she said. "Every time I apply for a house they tell me we have too many people.

"That night a friend of a friend reached out to us," Wesselson says.

"He said, ‘don't worry, I've got a place you can have', and I can't begin to tell you how incredible that felt."

With just over a week until Wessleson is due to deliver her fifth child, the family is busy moving into their new home.

"I have the biggest smile on my face. It is such a relief to know the kids will be living in a dry and healthy home, because that what was most important for us," she says.

"It's just a huge weight off my shoulders".

Previous experiences in emergency housing had left Wessleson fearful of bringing a newborn baby into an unstable environment.

She says of the 20 weeks the family had spent in emergency housing, only two had been in the same motel.

"We've been to Masterton, Bulls... whenever the stockcars come we have to go," Wesselson says.

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Development's public housing quarterly report stated that, as of September 2021, demand for housing had risen by 15 per cent.

Of those, 92 per cent were ‘priority A', meaning they were considered high risk and had severe and persistent housing needs that needed to be addressed immediately.

Across the central region, there were 1457 applicants on the housing register and, in New Zealand, there were over 25,000 people waiting for permanent housing.

Wessleson says she wants to find a way to advocate for the many people struggling to find a house to call home.

"Anything I can do. for people in the same position we have been in, I want to be able to support them," she says.

"People are so quick to judge, but everyone has a story. If I can help others that are in the same position we have been in, then I will do what I can."

Source

• Stuff
• Image: Stuff

The number of homeless waiting for accommodation has ballooned during the COVID-19 lockdown, says Auckland Diocese's Monte Cecilia Trust.

A spokesperson says the shortage is a result of the Government scrapping 'redirect' contracts. These contracts saw community housing providers arrange to lease houses from property owners, with the government and tenants sharing the cost.

At present the emergency housing provider says it has approved 279 families for housing. Those families, however, are on a seemingly never-ending queue as the Trust can't secure any new homes to house them in.

"What makes it even more baffling is that 240 of the 279 approved families are Maori or Pacifica - New Zealand's most vulnerable groups who together represent 65 percent of the NZ Housing Wait Register," Monte Cecilia CEO Bernie Smith says.

"The New Zealand Housing Wait Register has grown to over 30,000 but for some reason, the Government is jettisoning a key tool at a time when the need for it has never been higher. At the same time, the Government announced $55million for Community Housing Providers to use as capital to build homes, but crucially not in Auckland City - only the regions."

Smith says the Trust is expecting a surge in families needing homes as lockdown eases in Auckland.

The current lockdown in Auckland has hampered the Trust's ability to move families into new housing. Smith says staff have found it difficult to see families struggling and not be able to move them into new homes.

"We've seen instances where entire families have been forced to shelter in single-room motel units or where more than 20 people are crammed into a three-bedroom house. That kind of thing has a real impact on families' mental health as well as potentially their physical health since there's no way to isolate if someone in their household catches COVID - there's nowhere they can go to escape it."

The Trust is calling on the public for help - including donations and volunteer time - as lockdown eases.

Source

• NewsHub
• Image: TVNZ

As at March 31, there were 4368 children living in motels across the country - up by 480 in three months. At the end of December there were 3888 children in motels.

There were 465 children in motels for less than four weeks in the three months to December - that jumped to 804 to the end of March.

However - motels are leaving the scheme, with the latest being the Nautilus Motel in Napier, despite making upwards of $1.5 million in just nine months. Read more

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern today indicated on Morning Report a commitment to ramping up support for those living in motels.

Demand for emergency accommodation has exploded in recent years with the government now spending nearly a million dollars a day to put people up.

There are about 8500 people living in motels and other temporary accommodation, some in conditions one of the government's own ministers has described as "inhumane". Read more

Green Party co-leader and associate housing minister Marama Davidson has come out saying some of our emergency housing is inhumane.

She also says the way money is handed out to hotels, with no strings attached, is unacceptable.

Monte Cecilia housing trust boss Bernie Smith agrees it's inhumane, and told Andrew Dickens he's known it's been a problem for years.

"Many of us would have taken a family on a holiday in a motel for three or four days for a week, and after that we've had enough of the motels because of the confined spaces." Read more

Instead, the housing crisis has worsened.

"At the moment we're getting 20 to 30 calls per day. A year ago, it was 10 to 15 calls per week," he told TVNZ's Breakfast this morning.

"A year ago, we would have probably five or 10 families waiting for a housing solution. Today I can tell you we've got 400 families." Read more