One of the protesters who took part on the recent Hikoi for the Homeless.
Weekly column by Kāpiti mayor K Gurunathan.
Two weeks ago, I wrote about the homeless living secretly in a couple of tents in the bushy hedge between the Paraparaumu Library building and the old community centre.
Along a busy footpath right under the nose of council. A superb symbol of the hidden plight of the homeless. I also mentioned that the official count of people wanting homes is measured by the Ministry of Social Development using what's known as a Housing Register.
This is where those in need register themselves as being homeless. Over the years we have known the MSD registered only around a 100-odd people.
Anecdotally, social service organisations like the Salvation Army and those working in the coal face have known the MSD figures were only the tip of an iceberg. But government investment in social housing through Housing New Zealand (Kainga Ora), or the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, was dependent on the need as registered by MSD.
Given the competition of poverty across the country, Kāpiti's low registered figure made us low in the Government's priority list. What was lacking was a counter factual to the MSD's shallow methodology.
Finally, given the national housing crisis and local focus on housing, council has initiated a housing and social needs assessment. The survey and analysis will be finalised early next year but initial data is already showing that Kāpiti is sliding into a crisis.
There are 240 Kainga Ora houses in Kāpiti for a population of over 56,000 and it takes an average of 230 days to place people in one of their houses. There are 50 adults and 40 children living in emergency housing.
There has been a tenfold increase in the annual Emergency Housing Special Needs Grants in the last four years up to 2020/21 at $2.7 million. There is only a single community housing provider. There are also 200 people living in private boarding with many having high complex needs.
Then there is a supply problem. While funding has been contracted for 18 transitional houses only 14 are in place as there are no properties for rent.
Other data show that the lower quartile house prices have increased 435 per cent between 2001 and 2021, while over the same period median household income increased by only 112 per cent. With the lower end house prices registering at $696,000 up to 88 per cent of renters are unable to buy anything affordable.
The percentage of renters unable to buy an affordable house has increased 95 per cent across the district.
The percentage of median household income needed to pay the lower quartile rent has increased in Ōtaki from 29 per cent in 2001 to 41 per cent in 2021.
About 85 per cent of new builds are standalone dwellings largely targeting people shifting into Kāpiti rather than for local residents. The socio-cultural impact is clear in Ōtaki where the town's strong Māori culture is at risk with high house prices and rents driving whānau out of the area.
As you would expect, Covid is exacerbating the situation. With the CCDHB managing the Government's Covid in the Community programme there are contingency plans to house those needing to be isolated in the community. Those who don't have to be hospitalised but can't be isolated in their homes for some reason.
It is known that at least one motel has had a number of its rooms booked for that purpose. We don't know how many more.
The problem is finding adequate homes for those forced to move out of the motels used for social accommodation in an already tight market. Recently, relevant government agencies and iwi met with council staff to work together for solutions.
But there has been no government funding. A letter has gone from the Mayor's Office to the Minister of Housing Megan Woods and her deputy Peeni Henare.
It reveals the Kāpiti's crisis data and argues the case for funding for housing as a central government duty and not a council responsibility, especially in the high deprivation area of social housing for Māori. We shall wait for the response.