The latest six-monthly survey of housing support providers shows homelessness in Auckland has more than doubled to 940 people in the year to September. Photo / RNZ, Finn Blackwell
By Lucy Xia of RNZ
A worker at a special court that helps Auckland’s homeless who have committed low-level offences turn their lives around, says she is seeing increasing levels of poor mental health and distress over the past six to 12 months at the court, as the city continues to see a rise in the number of people without shelter.
On Tuesday, the release of the latest six-monthly survey of housing support providers under the National Homelessness Data Project (NHDP) showed that homelessness in Auckland has more than doubled from 426 to 940 people in the year to September.
The report, released by the Salvation Army and Community Housing Aotearoa, found that 14 of the 21 agencies interviewed reported an increase in homelessness.
It highlighted that the number of emergency housing applications that were declined increased from 4% in March 2024 to 36% by June 2025, while the assessment of whether people had “contributed to their own homelessness” remains a major reason for declining grants.
The report said there was little evidence to suggest that the Ministry for Social Development (MSD) had adjusted its “use of discretion” to be more accommodating when assessing emergency housing applications, despite directives from the Government in September.
Carmel Claridge has worked for more than three years as a coordinator at Te Kōti o Timatanga Hou (the Court of New Beginnings) based at the Auckland District Court, which provides a therapeutic approach to offenders who are homeless in the Auckland CBD.
She said she had noticed people coming to the court recently were giving up on applying for emergency housing because of the cost of the housing, the dangerous environment, and past experiences of being declined.
“The last half dozen people that I have assessed for suitability to come into our court, of those people, not a single one of them was prepared to even apply for an emergency housing grant,” she said.
The latest Salvation Army report under the NHDP stated that emergency housing grants fell from 7068 in March 2024 to 1833 by December 2024. One agency reported that in one month, all 27 people they referred to the MSD for emergency housing were declined.
Claridge said the people she works with at the court are at “the bottom of the ladder” when it comes to getting housing assistance – often denied access because of addictions, mental health struggles and past convictions.
She said she was seeing more distress and emotional dysregulation of people coming to the court over the past six to 12 months.
“What I’m seeing is people presenting up at the Auckland District Court with very poor, often untreated or unmedicated mental health issues, combined with perhaps alcohol or drug addictions, and sometimes also with criminal history as well.
“Those people are very, very difficult to house at the best of times, but when they are completely shut out of a housing continuum by denial of a basic emergency housing grant, they’re effectively cut off from any support whatsoever,” Claridge said.
Claridge said this cohort was unable to get help for drug and alcohol issues without a fixed address, which puts them in a “vicious cycle” of being denied the support needed to sustain a stable tenancy.
There was a need for housing that provides a supportive environment where their mental health, drug and addiction issues can be addressed, she said.
The Government and the council’s move on orders for the homeless in Auckland was not a humane solution to a very complex problem, she said.
Claridge said there could be wider social consequences if nothing was done to support people.
“If you have a group of people out there in the community who are very mentally unwell, who are not receiving the medical help they need, who are not properly medicated, who are not having their conditions monitored, or their prescribed medication controlled in some way.
“It is inevitable that you are going to get more incidents of random acts of violence on the wider members of society,” she said.
The report acknowledged that the Government’s $17 million in targeted funding in September, for 300 Housing First places and outreach support, has had some positive impacts – including more people helped into Kāinga Ora housing in Hamilton, and more outreach workers for some providers in Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington.
However it raised concern that the funding ends in June 2026, as well as the lack of relief for smaller centres such as Whangārei, Rotorua, Taranaki, Nelson or Dunedin. It is calling for sustained funding beyond June 2026.
It also highlighted that Government budgeted funding for homelessness support in the current year to June 2026 has reduced by $79m, compared to the year to June 2025.
The report calls for more tailored responses to women’s homelessness, including young women with children, older women, and wāhine Māori – who make up more than a third of homeless women in New Zealand.
Older people facing homelessness was identified as a growing issue in the report, with service providers reporting a growing proportion of pensioners renting and vulnerable to unstable housing.
Youth outreach service providers also reported that youth homelessness is becoming more visible, with nearly 50% of those experiencing severe housing deprivation being under the age of 25.
Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka said in a statement the report findings reinforce what the Government knows of homelessness as a complex issue, “shaped by long-standing whānau and system breakdowns”.
“We know there are real issues, however, we are taking action to address these. We are working closely with community housing providers, iwi, Māori organisations and frontline services, and we take their insights seriously,” he said in the statement.
Potaka said the figures cited in the report reflected “provider experience” in particular places, and were not a national headcount.
Ian Hutson, director of the social policy and parliamentary unit, said it was concerning that there was currently no government-funded comprehensive data to capture the real extent of homelessness in the country.
The figures on Auckland’s homelessness came from the council and community providers who had counted the number of homeless people known to them, he said.
The real numbers would be much higher, Hutson said.
An earlier briefing released by the Salvation Army in July this year found through OIA requests and a range of sources that one in every 1000 people in New Zealand is without shelter, and 57,000 women are experiencing homelessness, often in unsafe or unstable living situations.
Potaka added that it was too early to judge the impact of the $17m committed by the Government in September.
“We are investing over half a billion dollars a year in housing and support, backing Iwi- and community-led solutions, and fixing a system that was fragmented and ineffective.
“Support is delivered nationwide based on need, and funding shifts reflect a deliberate move away from crisis responses toward stable housing outcomes,” he said.
Meanwhile, Potaka said MSD had clear direction to apply discretion where people face genuine hardship.
“Based on feedback I have received there is a noticeable difference and providers are working effectively with MSD,” he said.