Associate housing minister Tama Potaka (inset) says people denied emergency housing may be offered other support such as accommodation supplements or bond grants. Photo / Mark Mitchell, Ben Tomsett
The number of applications granted for emergency housing nationally has plummeted as the Government tightens restrictions, citing “basic personal responsibilities”.
Data to the end of June, obtained by the Herald under the Official Information Act, shows that even though the number of applications has dropped significantly, the number being declined continues to rise. More applications are being declined than granted in Auckland.
Grants have been declining steadily for several years but the fall became more rapid after new rules were introduced in August 2024, allowing officials to decline grants if they believed a person had caused or contributed to their own need.
An Auckland-based youth homeless service said it was dramatically harder for young people to access emergency housing after the Government introduced the tighter restrictions.
Aaron Hendry, co-founder of Auckland-based agency Kick Back which helps young people access emergency housing, said young people were now getting denied emergency housing when youths in similar circumstances had been accepted a week before the Government’s changes.
“A week later, we’re sitting in Work and Income with a very vulnerable young woman who’s telling Work and Income ... she needs emergency housing ... she was denied that support. She ended up going back on the street and sleeping rough that night.
“We’ve had almost countless young people that have had a similar experience where they’ve reached out for support for emergency accommodation, being denied and being left sleeping rough and other cases staying in really dangerous situations.”
Hendry said he has started contacting motel and hostel owners directly to try to house young people in emergency situations. They pay for this themselves, often from a benefit payment.
“We don’t think New Zealand understands, or our Government understands, that this is actually a crisis. We are talking about life and death in some cases. We’re talking about real significant trauma, abuse, sexual assault.
“For someone who maybe doesn’t live in this world, it might feel like it’s catastrophising but it’s the reality. Young people die when they do not have stable housing, when they’re sleeping on the street. It doesn’t happen every day, but it does happen.”
Hendry said in the past, if a young person was rejected by the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) for emergency housing, Kick Back could often escalate their case to someone higher up and find emergency accommodation.
“After August, we found that when we tried to escalate things through MSD they no longer had the ability to support us to prevent young people sleeping rough as they had in the past.”
Hendry said something needed to be done about the large-scale use of emergency housing and described the Government’s approach as “irresponsible”.
“Instead of developing a strategy and ensuring that you have a solution and another model in place, they’ve just shut the door and... left some of our most vulnerable people out in the cold.”
Asked about the example of the young woman raised by Hendry, Karen Hocking, MSD group general manager of engagement, said applicants were only declined if they were not eligible and alternative support was provided to most of these people.
“We would welcome the opportunity to explain any decision we’ve made, if the person who applied gives us permission.
“The most common reason for declining a person’s application is because their need can be met in another way. For example, by referring them to a transitional housing provider or helping them find another rental property.”
Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka said asking the Government for motel rooms should not be put above the responsibilities of parents and family in a young person’s life.
“Nor should motel rooms be seen as a substitute to seeking appropriate help from agencies and community-based providers.”
Potaka said the large-scale use of emergency housing “was one of the biggest public policy failures” in the country’s history.
There used to be thousands of applications a month – between 2000 and 4000 in 2017 – and this grew to 9000-10,000 a month in 2019. At times during the pandemic, there were more than 15,000 applications a month.
“Emergency housing remains available as a last-resort, short-term option for those in genuine need,” Potaka said.
“All we expect is basic personal responsibilities for people while they are in emergency housing, such as expectations for behaviour and making an effort to obtain other housing.”
Before the election, National campaigned on reducing the use of emergency housing including tighter criteria and a new “Priority One” policy, which bumps families with children who have been in emergency housing for 12 weeks or more to the top of the social housing waitlist.
Potaka said more than 1000 households with 2200 children had moved from “dank emergency housing motel rooms to secure, stable homes” under this policy.
A new reason for denying an application was introduced in August 2024: you have caused or contributed to your immediate needs. Between then and May 2025, 927 applications were declined for this reason.
In January, the Government celebrated reaching its target of reducing the number of households in emergency housing motels by 75% five years early.
Potaka said when someone was denied emergency housing they may be offered other support such as accommodation supplements or bond grants.
He said more than $550 million was being spent on support services, including transitional housing.
“Ministers recently requested recommendations from agencies about how existing programmes and services, including transitional housing, can be better applied.
“In the short term, we have asked officials for advice on further targeted interventions to provide help and support to those living without shelter, including rough sleepers.”
University of Otago public health associate professor Nevil Pierse said the level of declined applications was “so disappointing” because it was difficult for many people to overcome stigma and shame and submit an application.
“We’re making the system really hard and a lot of these people will have underlying traumas such as mental health and previous abuse that makes it harder for them to come to the Government and to ask for our society’s help,” Pierse said.
“We’re declining so many and acting as a barrier for an emergency need. We’re really putting people in danger.”
Homelessness is not a new problem and a challenge subsequent Governments have tried to tackle.
Measuring it in New Zealand is difficult because of a lack of accurate data. The Government’s best estimate of the number of people living without shelter is more than two years old.
It uses the 2023 Census, which showed almost 5000 people were living without shelter.
A Government report released in July showed Northland had the country’s second-highest rate of people living without shelter after Auckland.
Children’s charity Variety New Zealand estimated more than 200 Northland children were at risk of developing serious illnesses caused by inadequate bedding, sleeping in overcrowded, poorly insulated houses, and sleeping on mouldy mattresses on the floor.
Te Tai Tokerau MP Mariameno Kapa–Kingi called it “poverty in paradise” – a place with beautiful beaches and scenery that grapples with serious social deprivation and homelessness.
“It’s just terrible when we know there are 200 mokopuna that are dotted around, and you don’t know [where] for sure – but you know they’ll be at risk in every possible way.”
Orange Sky runs free laundry and shower services in different parts of the country for whoever needs it, no questions asked.
It has just launched a new service in Whakatāne where there is growing demand. Like Auckland, more applications were declined in the East Coast than approved in June 2025.
Nationally, Orange Sky recorded a 222% increase in the number of washes and a 315% rise in the number of showers between the years ending June 2023 and June 2025.
“I’ve seen doctors, lawyers, really well-educated, well-travelled individuals who, for whatever reason, have just faced some hardship and they’ve found themselves without stable accommodation and the need to use our service,” senior impact manager Kat Doughty said.
“Sometimes people think, ‘oh, homeless whānau being difficult’ – that typical stereotype that they have in their head – and that’s not the case.”
Julia Gabel is a Wellington-based political reporter. She joined the Herald in 2020 and has most recently focused on data journalism.