Social Development and Employment Minister Carmel Sepuloni. Photo / File
Nearly $3 million a week is being spent helping thousands of people in the Bay of Plenty keep a roof over their heads amid the region's deepening housing crisis.
Thousands across the region qualify for the Accommodation Supplement – a non-taxable benefit to help pay for rent, board or the costs of owning a home.
The latest figures from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development show $2,907,599 a week was handed out across the region in accommodation supplements in the last financial quarter of last year.
This was up $138,455 a week on the quarter ending in September, and $472,330 a week on the quarter ending in March.
Baywide Housing Advocacy Service housing advocate and solicitor Shard Loibl said the service was seeing more people who worked full-time needing a top-up from Work and Income.
The numbers illustrated the rental crisis, and the supplement was not keeping pace with Tauranga's rapidly rising rents, he said.
"So they [Work and Income] give food grants to help the families too, but then limit how much they are allowed, so families then rely on the food bank to survive."
According to the Ministry of Social Development, 32,469 people received accommodation supplement in the Bay of Plenty, with more than 14,880 in Tauranga and the Western Bay of Plenty.
In Rotorua, 8592 people received this support.
The grants shot up by 3729 across the region in a year - 1845 in Tauranga and the Western Bay of Plenty, and 1254 in Rotorua.
The most someone living in Tauranga could get was between $165 and $305, including solo parents with two or more children. The median rent in Tauranga was $580 and $520 in the Western Bay of Plenty.
The most someone could get in Rotorua was between $80 and $160. The median rent was $465.
Accessible Properties general manager Vicki McLaren said the accommodation supplement invested money in the wrong place.
The model was an inefficient use of resources, with a significant investment in temporary and emergency accommodation - at a high social cost, McLaren said.
The figures were "deeply worrying but not surprising" and reflected the scarcity of rentals and growing desperation for housing.
This was "out of kilter" with increasing rental costs and added to what she described as a misplaced level of government investment in temporary emergency accommodation - mainly motels.
"As with any system there are winners and losers and as is often the case, the vulnerable in our communities pay the price."
She said they had been working successfully with emergency and transitional housing providers to move clients into long-term social housing.
The Pukehinahina Project, the intensification of Gate Pa/Tauranga South, was the "game-changer the city desperately needs", she said.
The project would provide good-quality, medium-density housing, and homeownership pathways, she said.
"We absolutely have the ability to create a better future."
Liz Davies, general manager of Social Link, the umbrella group for social services in the city, said homelessness, people living in cars or in overcrowded housing reflected the lack of suitable, affordable housing.
She said services around the city were seeing growing numbers of people who had never needed help before seeking support with food and budgeting, she said.
"I do not think the supplement is sufficient given the increasing numbers of people requiring assistance."
Many felt ashamed about their situation, which had a big impact on mental health: "The lack of control over one's life, a feeling that you're not capable, concern about whether you will find work or be able to afford accommodation, a loss of a sense of hope of things getting better."
Tauranga Budget Advisory Services manager Shirley McCombe said the supplement only
made a small dent in housing costs.
The maximum a family could receive was $305, but the median rent in Tauranga was $580 and $520 in the Western Bay of Plenty.
"There is still a large gap that must be funded from the core benefit.
Some clients were paying $480 per week and their benefit, including the accommodation allowance, was $490.
Foodbanks were essential for many of their clients as they did not have enough money for food once the rent and power were paid.
"Even with the accommodation allowance families are still struggling to survive."
Whānau Ora North Island agency commissioning chairperson and Rotorua councillor, Merepeka Raukawa-Tait, said benefits were not long-term solutions but helped keep families out of "dire straits".
Research showed that financial pressure was the biggest contributor to relationship breakdowns, she said.
"We can look forward to more family harm, mental health problems and disruptive behaviour in children - all a result of people struggling to keep their heads above water financially."
Social Development and Employment Minister Carmel Sepuloni said changes were made to the supplement's maximum rates as part of the Families Package in 2018, reflecting rental costs at the time.
She said the supplement was a "vital" component of the social security system and helped those with high housing costs relative to income sustain their accommodation in the private rental market.
"It is only a partial subsidy and not intended to cover all of a recipient's housing costs."
A Ministry of Housing and Urban Development spokesman said the "intention" was that between 2021 and 2024, between 430 and 450 new public houses and between 150 and 460 transitional houses would be provided in the Bay of Plenty.
Since 2018, nearly 100 additional public housing places had been provided and about 200 more were expected in this year and next.
One of the key issues was a lack of build-ready land and so the Government committed $3.8 billion to the Housing Acceleration Fund.
He said the long-term goal of increasing public housing needed to be balanced with the imperative to provide immediate support to those without a home.
"We know there are regions and cities where housing demand has grown fast, resulting in rising rents, acute housing shortages and housing deprivation."
Ministry of Social Development employment and housing policy general manager, Hayley Hamilton, said they knew the rising cost of rents made it difficult for families, and the supplement was one of several ways to help with housing.
She said the supplement supported about 12 per cent of the population.
Other ways MSD helped with housing included assessing public housing eligibility and support with private rental costs such as bonds, rent in advance or rent arrears.
She said that to help those in need, the Government also introduced the Families Package, increased main benefits by $25 a week, indexed main benefits to average wages and increased the abatement threshold.
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