Cyclone Gabrielle, Auckland floods: Government offers payment to displaced homeowners

The Government will be offering up to $610 every week to homeowners displaced by extreme weather this year, a move aimed at “delivering certainty”.

The North Island Weather Events - Temporary Accommodation Assistance will be available from September 4 and can be applied for through the Ministry of Social Development.

It comes after months of uncertainty and anguish for people left without a home after the Auckland Anniversary Weekend floods in January, Cyclone Gabrielle in February, and several devastating storms since.

As of June 13, 2023, 3884 properties in New Zealand have been assigned a red or yellow placard.

Minister for Auckland, and Social Development and Employment, Carmel Sepuloni, announced the payments last night, saying the value would differ depending on region.

Payments would also depend on how many people were in the families who had applied for the funding, with four categories.

In Auckland, for example, a couple with two or more children or a single parent with three or more children would be eligible for $610 a week.

In Hawke’s Bay, the same eligible families would get $510. In Gisborne, this drops to $460 and $400 for “rural areas”.

For couples with one child, or a single parent with two children, $560 would be given to those in Auckland, $480 for Hawke’s Bay, $430 for Gisborne and $380 for rural areas.

Couples without children, or a single parent with one child, can get $480 in Auckland, $420 in Hawke’s Bay, $380 in Gisborne and $340 in rural areas.

Single homeowners can get $330 if they’re in Auckland, $270 in Hawke’s Bay, $260 in Gisborne and $250 in rural areas.

Payment values will either be the household’s actual rent or the maximum rates outlined above, whichever is lower.

Sepuloni said she has talked to many residents devastated by flooding: “It’s clear that they need and deserve certainty so they can plan, recover and get back to a sense of normalcy.”

She said the Government had prioritised starting the payment scheme as payments from many homeowner’s insurers were ending.

“If a longer-term solution is needed there is work under way on what that might look like,” Sepuloni said.

“In the meantime, the interim payment will give displaced homeowners the certainty and confidence they need to plan ahead.

Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.