Dawn is constantly looking online for rental accommodation, but listings are slim in Kāpiti and none are accessible.
Dawn Eyles. Photo / David Haxton
The Ministry for Social Development is on the lookout, she has contacted 10 MPs, made a Facebook appeal to the community, and is on the Housing Register wait-list, but a long way back in the queue.
Moving into emergency housing, in a motel, is a real prospect but not one she's keen on, especially because she doubts any unit will have the necessary accessibility.
It was all "incredibly stressful".
"You can't help thinking of the worst-case scenario."
She was a bit more confident after talking to MSD, but before that was "really scared and depressed".
Her situation highlighted "a definite lack of social housing and a lack of rental accommodation especially accessible housing".
Kāpiti Coast district councillor Rob McCann, who holds the housing and social welfare portfolios, has been in contact with Dawn after seeing her Facebook appeal.
He said Dawn's predicament highlighted "a serious under-investment in social housing in Kāpiti".
"We have 12 per cent of the Wellington region's population, but less than 3 per cent of public housing units.
"The housing crisis is actually only getting worse in Kāpiti ... we need government commitment now to increase the supply of emergency housing, transitional housing and social housing."
He said the council had moved from being just a regulator in the housing space, to actively trying to fix the housing continuum.
"Much of what we are doing is medium and long term as we shift the framework to support social and affordable housing.
"The reality is that this is seen as the responsibility of government, and we're stepping in because the response over a long period of time has not addressed the need, which continues to grow.
"We need government to step up and rectify the under-investment urgently."
McCann said the council had commissioned a housing and needs assessment "so that we can ensure there is strong evidence to demonstrate the need in our district and therefore the need for increased investment".
Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) housing supply, response and partnerships deputy chief executive Anne Shaw said public housing was a vital part of New Zealand's social support system and increasing the supply was a priority for the Government.
"Under the 2021-24 Public Housing Plan, an additional 8000 public and transitional housing places will be delivered across the country by June 2024.
"There are several potential projects to increase the supply of public housing in Kāpiti and we're working with the housing providers involved to progress their inquiries into applications.
"In addition, HUD is also engaged with an existing transitional housing provider on a proposal to increase their provision in Kāpiti.
"We recently approved the development of 52 social housing units in Horowhenua too."
She said work was also under way through the Wellington Regional Growth Framework work programme including Kāpiti-Horowhenua planning for public transport, social and other infrastructure to enable the provision of more housing in existing urban areas within both districts.
Stage one of the Kapiti-Horowhenua project was a revised growth strategy for Kāpiti, including completing a housing assessment for the district led by council in conjunction with HUD and Kāinga Ora.
Ōtaki MP Terisa Ngobi said, "Our office is more than happy to help Dawn work through this to see if there is anything we might be able to help with in terms of advice and information.
"She's been in touch and we've asked her to fill out an authority-to-act form, which we're just waiting on."
