The number of people living in cars had risen since the pandemic and was likely to continue to rise for some time, the report found.
This was due to job and income losses, the lack of availability of private rental housing and the unaffordability of rental homes.
The council received 21 complaints between August and October about people sleeping in cars. This did not include emails and phone calls to council staff and elected members.
Between August and November, the council's bylaws team spent about 136 hours responding to homelessness-related complaints. Of this, 96 hours were spent on follow-up visits, queries, site cleaning, referrals to support services and supporting internal council workgroups.
The council's minutes stated that living from a vehicle was not a desired option by many but "they are left in a position with no alternatives".
This was predominantly due to a lack of access to emergency and social housing, and a lack of affordable rental properties.
The final question in a survey of people who had lived in their cars asked how the council could help make their life a little better right now.
"Help support us find a share [house]," one woman said.
"Personally, if I were still living in my car, a place to wash, laundry, shower, toilet would help out a lot," another said.
In their meeting, committee members agreed they needed to find a safe area for people living in cars to sleep, eat, shower and go to the toilet. These people also needed help to access housing and health support.
The location could be an existing open space such as a repurposed carpark or an unused building. It could be owned by the council or it could be on private land.
The council agreed on 10 necessities for the chosen space and its users.
These were toilets, showers, access to drinking water, power to charge devices, security, lighting, camera surveillance, access to meals, social worker assessments, and referrals to support agencies.
The safety of men, women, and children need to be considered and risks needed to be reduced as part of the project's planning and implementation. This would be done in collaboration with strategic partners.
This project is aligned with the Kāinga Tupu: Growing Homes strategy governed by the Kāinga Tupu Mayoral Taskforce and co-ordinated by the Principal Adviser – Kāinga Tupu within the Community Development team of the council.
People who were homeless and had lived in cars were spoken to about their needs while living in their car.
This included asking about essential facilities, safety, whether they would use support services and what would help, and how they chose a site.
