Love Soup Rotorua: Priority must be on sustainable housing

Gina Peiffer and Elmer Peiffer run Rotorua's Love Soup for homeless and rough sleepers. Photo/Ben Fraser

The government's plan for 117 new state houses won't cater to the needs of Rotorua's homeless families, according to Love Soup Rotorua.

Associate Housing Minister Alfred Ngaro announced the plans while visiting Rotorua on Wednesday.

The plan includes 117 more social and transitional houses to be set up in Rotorua over the next three years - a mix of new builds and newly acquired rental properties.

"Minister Ngaro and [Rotorua MP] Todd McClay came for dinner on Wednesday night and we had over 30 of our families here to share their story," Gina Peiffer of Love Soup Rotorua said.

She said National had never made move towards additional housing and in her view it was "just convenient for the election" and "not actually helping the homeless".

"They don't have the same drive or kaupapa as those of us on the ground. They're not actually catering to our homeless families."

Mrs Peiffer and her husband Elmer made the decision earlier this month that they would no longer be able to help homeless families into housing.

She said she would believe the government plan when she it happened.

"It's about connecting the separate services, all the agencies working together is what they can actually do to help," she said.

"They're all targeting small sectors, but none of them are across the board addressing homelessness."

The plan is to have 37 transitional houses available by the end of the year and 80 new social housing properties over the next three years.

Mrs Peiffer said the priority had to be on sustainable housing, not transitional.

"Making sure that they can afford rent, that there's money left over for food, that all the areas they need help are taken into account," she said.

"A lot of our homeless are every day, normal, working, families. People never think about what it's like being homeless, they don't trust the services to help them and that needs to change."

Rotorua Salvation Army corps officer Kylie Overby stands in one of the new transitional houses. Photo/Ben Fraser

Rotorua mayor Steve Chadwick said the council was looking forward to partnering with the Government and other agencies to address housing issues.

"Council hasn't the funding to buy or build houses but we're keen to do whatever we are able to do to help facilitate initiatives that help address housing shortages and homelessness."

Mrs Chadwick said there was certainly need for more housing in Rotorua.

"Complex issues like housing will require a multi-pronged approach involving multiple organisations."

"We already support the Rotorua Homeless Steering Group which is led by LifeWise, and we're investigating the potential for a community housing trust. While the initial purpose is to finance and increase quality social housing for older people in Rotorua, a trust like this could potentially become an umbrella organisation for other collaborative social housing work."

District councillor Merepeka Raukawa-Tait is involved with Rotorua's homeless action plan. She said the government plan was a good start.

"There's no doubt in my mind that timing is of the essence, the houses are needed now, we need to make this happen now," she said.

"It's not just about providing a house it's about sorting all of their other issues, it's about ensuring the wrap around services are there for these families."

The main concern for Ms Raukawa-Tait was hearing the 80 social housing properties would include 40 one-bedroom, 30 two-bedroom and 10 three-bedroom homes.

"I actually think we're mostly dealing with families and the three-bedroom should be the priorities," she said.

"I think they should be looking at 40 three-bedroom properties and 10 one-bedroom homes."

Meanwhile, Rotorua Labour candidate Ben Sandford said he thought the plan "merely robs from our already scarce stock of quality rentals, in order to create bandaid three-month emergency housing options rather than long-term solutions".