NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Premium
Home / New Zealand

Editorial: Emergency housing of the last resort in motels

NZ Herald
21 Jun, 2022 05:00 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

In the throes of the Covid pandemic and to fill a need, many motel owners have changed business model to become emergency housing providers. Photo / Ross Setford, File

In the throes of the Covid pandemic and to fill a need, many motel owners have changed business model to become emergency housing providers. Photo / Ross Setford, File

Editorial

EDITORIAL

Emergency housing has changed the look of New Zealand communities over the past five years.

What were once strips of motor lodges for smart businesspeople or holidaying families on the fringes between residential and commercial parts of towns, have evolved into semi-permanent residences for government-underwritten social housing.

As senior journalist Isaac Davison reported this week, emergency housing is now big business, with some motel and motor lodge-owners pivoting their enterprises to specialise in housing the most vulnerable people in society.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

One motel alone has claimed $16 million in grants for emergency accommodation, data obtained by the Herald shows.

These budget and mid-range motels and hotels have also become attractive products for investors. Some have traded hands in the last two years on the basis of a steady income from Ministry of Social Development (MSD) tenants.

This was a change foisted on communities "on the hoof" after borders slammed shut to tourism and business to stave off the Covid-19 pandemic. At the same time the motel rooms became vacant, those in temporary housing or on waiting lists overflowed out of garages and vehicles. The solution was so obvious that it barely entered discussions.

The outcome is a living iteration of how difficult it has become to increase affordable and social housing, and how significant the demand is. Labour, when in Opposition, once said that motels were a poor option but it is now almost entirely dependent on them.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Let's not forget that emergency housing numbers are basically homeless numbers - the tenants would be considered homeless under the official definition. These tenants have effectively become the new "homeless in cars and garages" which was so damaging to National in the later years of its government.

This will take a long time to resolve. On top of the pre-existing issues (rising rents, values) New Zealand now suffers building supply hitches and a construction sector at capacity. We can't really build new houses any faster.

Discover more

Editorial

Editorial: Coming down the Covid Omicron wave

20 Jun 05:00 PM
Editorial

Editorial: EU signals long view on Ukraine

19 Jun 05:00 PM
Editorial

Editorial: Prince Andrew imbroglio and splitting heirs

18 Jun 05:00 PM
Editorial

Editorial: Trump reheated - why he won't be indicted

17 Jun 05:00 PM

MSD's group general manager of housing Karen Hocking this week pointed out that emergency accommodation "isn't our first option - it's a last resort".

Makeshift policies like this are seldom successful, even though this "last resort" has rapidly become popular and expensive. Since 2016, 2500 motels have housed MSD tenants at a cost of $881m.

Bernie Smith, chief executive of the Monte Cecilia Housing Trust, is scathing of the amount of money going into motels that he believes are unsuited as long-term housing for families.

"If they weren't being used for emergency housing, a number of these motels were due for a bulldozer. This money has just rescued them... some of these motels are pretty questionable."

And where to for all these families as tourism and business returns? It seems many will be staying longer at the type of motels that aren't, for whatever reason, welcoming international visitors.

The Eagles sang on the 1977 song "The Last Resort": "You call someplace paradise, kiss it goodbye." It appears it is goodbye to happy holidaymakers for many of these motor-lodges, and hello to a new long-term reality.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from New Zealand

New Zealand

'Strange': Naturists react to controversial nude Lotto ad

Auckland
|Updated

Malachi Subecz inquest: Cousin made 10 attempts in three days to raise alarm about carer

New Zealand

'Totally unacceptable': Cannabis cake taken to shared lunch at Hawke’s Bay Hospital


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

'Strange': Naturists react to controversial nude Lotto ad
New Zealand

'Strange': Naturists react to controversial nude Lotto ad

The advert, featuring a bare bottom, is the most complained about ad of 2025 so far.

15 Jul 01:19 AM
Malachi Subecz inquest: Cousin made 10 attempts in three days to raise alarm about carer
Auckland
|Updated

Malachi Subecz inquest: Cousin made 10 attempts in three days to raise alarm about carer

15 Jul 01:19 AM
'Totally unacceptable': Cannabis cake taken to shared lunch at Hawke’s Bay Hospital
New Zealand

'Totally unacceptable': Cannabis cake taken to shared lunch at Hawke’s Bay Hospital

15 Jul 01:16 AM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP