Crowded houses

As the cost of living rises, overcrowding is becoming a serious health and social issue for South Auckland, reports Rebecca Blithe.
Queba Makiha and her daughter, Terran, stroll down their old street in Favona, past a group of people raking up leaves outside a boarding house. Miss Makiha points across the road to another boarding house.
"That's where we used to live, for three months. I had to share a room with my two girls and we paid $240 a week for that, and for a shared kitchen and all facilities," says Miss Makiha, who was made redundant last year and has recently moved into a Housing New Zealand home.
While her stories of cockroaches and cramped conditions seem unbearable, Miss Makiha holds more concern for other families she met while living here.
"I know of one state house where there are two families with five kids each, plus two tenants. That's 17 people in one three-bedroom house."
She says she has also seen entire families living in garages. "They do it to try and save money. But it's bad for health, for hygiene. I understand it can also be a cultural way of thinking."
She says Housing NZ tenancy managers visit these homes but don't seem to take note of the huge numbers of people packed into rooms.
Mangere Budgeting Service's chief executive, Darryl Evans, says overcrowding in South Auckland has been an issue in the 10 years he's worked in the area and it has increased tenfold this year.
"What we're seeing is three or four families packing into state houses," he says. "People are unable to maintain private rents. The rents are going through the roof.
"And the caravans - if you drive across Mangere now you see them in driveways everywhere. We're not a Third World country but there are so many people living in Third World conditions."
Housing NZ's regional manager for East Auckland, Tania Eden, says overcrowding is considered on a case-by-case basis.
"We look at a number of factors, including damage to the property, actions of those in the house and the impact on the neighbourhood, any health issues as well as impacts on the well-being of the family.
"Overcrowding can sometimes occur in state houses when other family members, friends, etc, move in.
"Tenancy managers are in fairly regular contact with tenants. This can be for any number of reasons and, with some tenants, this may need to be more often."
Housing NZ requires tenants to notify it each year of any change in circumstances when they apply for a rent subsidy.
"This includes telling us the number of people living in the house. If there are any changes in the number of people living in the house at any time, tenants are also required to tell us," says Ms Eden. "When we become aware of overcrowding in one of our houses, our staff will work closely with the tenants to find them more suitable housing where possible."
But Miss Makiha says because tenants are only filling out a form, it's easy to be dishonest.
"It just seems like a big wind tunnel that they aren't really aware of."
Hunger pains
Mangere Budgeting Service chief executive Darryl Evans says overcrowding in houses is an issue, but people are also desperate for food: "The number one request for us now is families asking for food.''