Families are stuck in emergency housing for months on end, with no end in sight. Photo / Getty Images
Families are spending an average of 11 weeks in emergency housing in Tauranga, new figures reveal.
But one housing advocate is aware of people being stuck in emergency housing for a year, and some agencies say the long stays can be detrimental to mental health.
With a shortage of private rentals and 753 people on the waiting list for state housing in Tauranga, Government departments say efforts are being made to increase the supply and find homes for people.
Figures provided by the Ministry of Social Development under the Official Information Act reveal people spent an average of 11 consecutive weeks in emergency housing in Tauranga between April 2020 and March 2021.
In the Western Bay of Plenty, the average stretch was nine weeks and in Rotorua it was three months. Region-wide, the average was 13 weeks.
The ministry said there was a significant increase in demand for emergency housing last year as it helped people isolate, and finding long-term accommodation wasn't easy, leading to longer stays.
Te Tuinga Whanau Support Services social worker Sai Watson-Crooks said many people had their budgets and credits sorted, but were stuck in emergency housing because they could not find a rental.
"There's nowhere to go ... they get to a point where they give up."
Lengthy stays and uncertainty around how long they would last impacted their mental health.
"They're frustrated, they feel like they're failing and parents feel like they're failing their kids."
People in emergency housing must prove they are actively searching for long-term accommodation.
She said Te Tuinga worked to get people back with their families if they could, or people found boarding situations or went into social or transitional housing.
On average, the trust - which provides both emergency and transitional housing - had people staying for about 11 weeks.
She said the length of time varied: some people did not need anything but a house, others needed support to sort out their credit, debt, or addictions.
There was one social worker to 10 families which, Watson-Crook said, was crucial in helping people find long-term housing.
The trust's executive director Tommy Wilson said until housing became more affordable, nothing would change.
"There's nowhere to go, there is no next place."
Recent figures obtained by the Bay of Plenty Times showed more people were entering into emergency housing in Tauranga and the Western Bay, with $11,317,570 spent on emergency housing grants for 1281 clients between April last year and March.
There are 753 people on the waiting list for public housing in Tauranga and the Western Bay of Plenty, according to the Ministry of Social Development's register.
Most on the list are considered at-risk, with a severe and persistent housing need that must be addressed immediately.
Tauranga Housing Advocacy Trust lawyer Shard Loibl said while 11 weeks might be the average, some clients had been in emergency housing for more than a year.
Tauranga Budget Advisory Services manager Shirley McCombe said some clients reported feeling "frightened" or unsafe in emergency housing.
However, for others, it was the best place they've lived.
"Some emergency housing is well maintained and the clients supported, but others are not."
Accessible Properties general manager Vicki McLaren said a pattern of circling in and out of emergency housing and a decline of mental and physical wellbeing was emerging.
"It's hard to imagine anything worse than not having a place to call home. This is likely to be a key driver in our alarming mental health statistics," she said.
"For the tenants Accessible Properties has housed, they say it takes a long time to believe they have a secure home and can focus on other things. These impacts can often be generational in nature."
McLaren said the cost of not addressing this issue would be far greater than the investment needed to ensure everyone had a home.
Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency chairwoman and Rotorua Lakes councillor Merepeka Raukawa-Tait said the "catastrophic" situation had been caused by years of ignoring the growing demand for mental health support, people unable to survive on benefits, and a lack of suitable housing for those in low-wage jobs.
She said the situation would become the norm unless people demanded direct input into where time, effort and money was directed.
Simon Anderson, managing director of Realty Group Ltd, which operates Eves and Bayleys, said he expected the need for emergency housing to grow if nothing was done to address housing supply.
Anderson said a low supply of houses on the market increased competition for rentals. People were making investment decisions to protect their return through rents.
"The ultimate challenge is the supply of affordable housing."
Ministry of Social Development housing general manager Karen Hocking said a "critical shortage" of housing in the Bay led to a high, ongoing need for emergency housing.
But motels were better options than sleeping rough or in a car, garage or crowded house.
She said case managers worked intensively with people in emergency housing to try to find and keep a suitable home, including referring them to other third-party help if needed.
Clients were expected to make a "reasonable effort" to find accommodation.
A Ministry of Housing and Urban Development spokesman said Tauranga has some of the most unaffordable housing in the country, and a shortage of available land to develop significantly increased rents and put pressure on public and emergency housing.
Tauranga and Rotorua were priority areas in the public housing plan and he said the Government was also working with communities to understand and respond to supply constraints.
Intensification and opportunities to build more public housing will be possible through recent district plan changes, supported by an urban growth partnership, he said.
• Support Iwi and Māori to develop housing to respond to high proportions of Māori in housing need
• Continue to partner with Iwi and Māori
• Identify where land can be unlocked with advice from the SmartGrowth Partnership
• 'Shovel-Ready' funding to improve transport choices and enable intensification in central Tauranga
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