Finding housing once you hit "the last rung of the ladder" is almost impossible, say two women living in Whangarei emergency housing.
Fifty-year-old Tanya* has been living with her husband and two grandchildren at Tai Tokerau Emergency Housing Trust's (TTEHT) units for about a week, after being evicted for paying a $160 water rates bill two days late.
She said despite coming up with the money, her property manager wanted her gone.
She had viewed 25 houses but had been turned down for all of them and was originally turned down for a Housing New Zealand home, but that changed when she said she had cancer.
She was now considered "high priority" but resented having to present herself as a "sob story".
"Being here is not what I believe in and it's making me feel inadequate for my mokos. My mana has gone and that's not a good feeling. But if [emergency housing] wasn't here I would be stuffed."
Ange Tepania, manager of the emergency housing complex, said landlords were "extremely tough" and becoming more so. Her clients faced problems getting a HNZ home once they had been private tenants as it was deemed they could afford market rents, even when they were beneficiaries.
"Some tenants have always been in the private sector but end up with history [of defaults]. But they may still be in extreme financial hardship," Ms Tepania said.
She described emergency housing as "the last rung of the ladder" and said there were families in Whangarei living in cars and caravans.
Amy* was living in emergency housing with her 2-year-old son. She had left an abusive relationship and had spent time in Women's Refuge before going to TTEHT. It was her second time in emergency housing and she had struggled with mental health and addiction issues.
"Last time I ended up going back to my partner because it was just too hard. I'm using this as a learning curve," she said.
TTEHT turned away about five families a week and could not keep up with demand. Amy was now on a HNZ waitlist but could not live in an area near her former partner. "My priority now is to bond with my child, who has seen a lot. I'm happy because my baby's happy."
-Names have been changed to protect privacy.