Latest news with #MinistryofHousingandUrbanDevelopment
NZ Herald
3 days ago
- Health
- NZ Herald
Northland homelessness crisis: Calls for urgent Government action
Northland social services and housing providers have called on the Government to urgently address rising homelessness in the region. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Development's latest Homelessness Insights Report shows the number of people living without shelter has increased across the country. Apart from Auckland, the Far
RNZ News
30-07-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
'Shame on our country': Homelessness in Auckland raised with ministers
General vision of homelessness in Auckland central city. Photo: RNZ / Luke McPake An Auckland city missioner is meeting with government officials to talk about how to respond to rising homelessness . Outreach providers in the city say it now has 809 rough sleepers -- 90 percent more than last September. Helen Robinson said that's a crisis and she met with both the Minister and the Associate Minister for Housing recently. "The reality that we have, in our census, just under 113,000 people who are homeless is absolutely a crisis," she said. "This is a moral shame on our country and I know that there are many New Zealanders who long for a reality where everybody has a home and everybody has enough support." Robinson said in recent weeks, she has had meetings with both the Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Minister of Housing Tama Potaka. "I requested a meeting to talk about the reality of street homelessness, the growth of that happening here in Auckland, the demand that was placing on services and the mission." Robinson said she met with Tama Potaka and expressed concern about the "direct relationship between emergency housing policies being tightened in September of last year and then a growth in street homelessness". She said two weeks ago, Chris Bishop contacted her. "He simply said to me, please tell me directly Helen, what is the reality that you're seeing in central city Auckland? So I took the opportunity," she said. "Since then we have had a face to face meeting with them with other a small group of other providers here in Auckland and also we are now working with both MSD [Ministry of Social Development] and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development to actually see what is it that we can do in response to two particular areas." Associate Minister for Housing (Social Housing) Minister Tama Potaka. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii Robinson said today she is meeting with officials from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development to continue those talks. "I am hopeful and look forward to a reality very soon where we can see a sig change at that em h end of homelessness here in New Zealand." She is asking for two changes. "A change to the emergency housing policy so that genuinely the genuine needs of people are met. And secondly, we're asking to contract with organisations like the mission so that we can provide that immediate access to shelter and appropriate support services for everybody that needs it." On Tuesday, Auckland Council's Community Committee voted to write to the government, asking officials to work with frontline agencies and make sure they are using up-to-date data when dealing with the issue. Community Committee chairperson, councillor Angela Dalton, told Checkpoint on Tuesday recent government policy changes had "made it harder for people to access emergency housing", as had declining people deemed to have contributed to their own lack of accommodation. "I think there's some policies that have been changed that show a lack of compassion because they are making assumptions that people are not trying hard enough." Talking to Morning Report on Wednesday, Associate Minister for Housing Tama Potaka said there were "a lot of contributing factors and causes" behind the rise in homelessness. "There's a number of things that this government is doing, whether or not it's the build program, making sure we build another 500 social homes in Auckland, Māori housing, Kainga Ora, 1500 new homes with chips, resetting the housing system. You would have heard us talking about granny flats and enabling those… and I look forward to the council actually supporting those actions." Potaka said he had "directed officials to identify some potential target interventions and understand the utilisation rates across transitional housing first, and other support programmes, to make sure we're getting the right utilisation of programmes". "We're also liaising with a lot of those providers like Strive, Auckland City Mission…and a whole range of others in Auckland," Potaka said. "No one I know wants to see Kiwis living without shelter, and we're very concerned with the level of rough sleeping and people in cars, and in tents and other things, including in Auckland."
Otago Daily Times
23-07-2025
- General
- Otago Daily Times
Homelessness increases but by how much is unclear
By Tuwhenuaroa Natanahira of RNZ Homelessness has increased, but by how much is unclear, according to a government report. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Development's latest Homelessness Insights Report relies on data collected in Census 2023, observations collected from government agencies, councils and the sector, and found homelessness had increased, but it was impossible to quantify the exact increase. The report defines homelessness as living situations where people are forced to live; without shelter, in temporary accommodation, shared accommodation with a household or living in uninhabitable housing. It also looked into what support people receive 60 days after they exited emergency housing. Thirty-seven percent were housed in social housing, 29 percent went into transitional housing, 19 percent received the accommodation supplement and the remaining 14 percent may be living without shelter, although that cannot be confirmed. From May 2024 to March 2025, 972 households were housed through the Priority One Fast Track, including 2055 children, the report said. In March, 32 percent of applications for emergency housing were declined, up 4 percent from the previous year. The reasons people were declined include: 'The need can be met another way' (34.3 percent), 'Circumstances could have been reasonably foreseen' (22.5 percent), 'Not eligible for a grant' (16.7 percent) and 'Not an emergency situation' (14.7 percent). In Auckland, outreach providers reported they were working with 809 "unsheltered" clients, up from 426 in September 2024. Whangārei District Council has seen an increase in the number of public reports related to homelessness from 680 in 2023 to 1066 in 2024. The report said at the current rate, they are forecast to reach over 1200 reports in 2025. In a statement, Housing Minister Chris Bishop said the report confirmed what frontline organisations like the Auckland City Mission and Salvation Army had been saying: there are too many people in housing need. "Accurate numbers are difficult to pin down - people without shelter often move around and may avoid engaging with government services - but it's clear we have a real problem." he said. "The government takes this seriously. At present, over $550 million is spent annually across a range of programmes run by multiple agencies, including Transitional Housing, Housing First, Rapid Rehousing and many other support services." Census data between 2018 and 2023 period showed a 37 percent increase of people living without shelter, despite the use of Emergency Housing. Speaking to media, Green Party spokesperson for Housing Tamatha Paul said this confirms what many on the ground are saying. "Although the data might be inconclusive altogether, it does in part confirm what we are seeing on the ground, what frontline workers are seeing on the ground, and what people are saying when they're trying to access emergency housing," she said. "I'm glad that there's some more transparency around what we are seeing, and that there is information in that briefing that says this government intentionally ignored advice that their decision would make homelessness worse." Paul said a faster than expected drop in emergency housing numbers was to blame. "Now we know that the cruelty and the misery that underlined and underpinned that rapid decrease in emergency housing numbers also aligns with an increase in homelessness," Paul said. Speaking to media, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka said there was a range of support available for people who were declined emergency housing. "That could be through housing support products like tenancy cover, bond cover, all sorts of things. It could be in transitional housing or Housing First," he said. Potaka said he was confident there was support for many people who had been declined, but admitted he was unsure sure of "100 percent" of those people would get support. In a statement, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said the most significant jumps were in smaller cities. "In Taranaki, homelessness increased by 250 percent in just six months, and Whangārei is forecast to see 1200 reports of people who are homeless this year - in a population that is under 100,000 people" he said. "We have known homelessness has been rising since National came into government but Christopher Luxon, Chris Bishop and Tama Potaka have consistently denied it, ignoring everyone who gave them advice to the contrary." McAnulty said the rise in homelessness followed government decisions making it harder to access emergency housing.
Scoop
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Regulatory Standards Bill Could Be Barrier For Māori Housing
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Development has warned that the Regulatory Standards Bill could stymie progress in enabling papakāinga, or Māori housing, documents show. A ministry official also flagged concerns the legislation could make it harder for ministers to do their jobs, and warned the reach of the proposed law - and the minister-appointed board - seemed "disproportionate to the authority of Parliament". Regulations Minister David Seymour rejected the criticism, saying the ministry should be "leading the charge to cut through this bureaucracy so more homes can be built". The Regulatory Standards Bill is non-binding on Parliament but proposes a set of principles MPs and officials would have to consider when designing regulation. It also would set up a board, appointed by the minister, to examine current and future laws' consistency with those principles, as well as requiring regular reviews of all regulations. In its feedback, the housing ministry raised concern about the potential for individual property rights to be elevated over and above collective rights. "...the lack of provision for collective rights/rangatiratanga and the indicated shift towards Individual rights, in a way that is not currently in New Zealand's constitution, could impact the way we can develop policy and legislation with significant negative impacts on Māori housing outcomes," it said. The ministry said one of the proposed principles - dealing with taxes, fees, and levies - could hinder progress on Māori-led housing projects. "If this principle is imposed over regulation, we are concerned it could be misaligned with the current approaches to whenua Māori, lead to greater fragmentation of land/whenua Maōri, be a barrier to pooling resources for collective good and further entrench the negative housing outcomes that currently exist." The government in May announced plans to make it easier to consent papakāinga. However, funding for the Whai Kāinga, Whai Oranga housing fund has also been cut. In a statement to RNZ, a spokesperson for Seymour said if the Regulation Standards Bill had been in place years ago, it could have prevented "much of the pointless red tape" that slows down building and consenting. "New Zealand faces a serious housing crisis. Anyone who has tried to build a home knows the delays and costs caused by red tape," the spokesperson said. "I'd have thought the Ministry for Housing would be leading the charge to cut through this bureaucracy so more homes can be built." An FAQ document prepared by Seymour's office also rejected the idea that the bill would favour individual rights over collective ones, saying it preserved the status quo "that collective Parliamentary law can trump all individual rights to personal autonomy and possessions". The document did not specify, however, how individual property rights would be considered compared to collective property rights by officials operating under the new regime. The housing ministry also warned that requiring reviews of all secondary legislation in reviews - without exemption - would add to the government's workload. To that, Seymour was unapologetic: "We're aware the public service doesn't like this law. Yes, it makes more work for them, justifying laws that interfere in people's lives. Here's the thing: If the public service think being required to justify their laws is a faff, imagine what it's like for the public they have to serve who are obliged to follow them." The ministry also made the case that the Treaty of Waitangi "should be featured as a relevant consideration" among the principles. But the FAQ, from Seymour's office, said the Treaty was excluded because the bill was focused on the quality of regulations, not Treaty obligations. "As with compliance with international obligations, legal obligations under Treaty settlements are a given. A central part of the RSB is to protect existing legal rights from unprincipled appropriation," it said. The ministry also said the ability for the proposed Regulatory Standards Board - appointed by the Regulations Minister, currently Seymour - to carry out reviews of regulations ahead of agencies' own regular reviews of legislation "would not be the most effective use of the board's time". Seymour has previously defended the extra cost and workload, saying the cost was about 2 percent of the policy work currently done across the government. "If it costs $20 million just to check the regulations, imagine the cost to all the poor buggers out there who have to comply with all this crap," he said. Concerns raised by official over 'disproportionate' powers In preparation for providing feedback on the Cabinet paper in October, an MHUD official warned that giving the Regulation Minister power to set the terms of regulatory reviews could interfere with the work of other ministers. "The power of the Minister of Regulation to initiate regulatory review and set terms of reference gives considerable power and will affect the ability of a portfolio minister to advance their work," the official said. "There should be elements of mutual agreement, or consultation required, or some detail about the threshold for the Minister to initiate a review (eg requiring an Order in Council)." The official also questioned whether a board chosen by the minister should have so much influence, saying it seemed "disproportionate compared to the authority of Parliament". They pointed out there was already a process - through the Regulatory Review Committee and the Legislation Act - that allowed MPs to examine regulations if concerns were raised. In response, Seymour's spokesperson said the bureaucrats "may want to familiarise themselves" with a set of rules, known as Legislative Guidelines, which departments are already required to follow, including the principles of property rights, individual liberty, and the rule of law. "The only difference is that under the Regulatory Standards Bill, these principles would become Parliamentary law, not just Cabinet guidance that some departments clearly ignore."
Otago Daily Times
19-06-2025
- General
- Otago Daily Times
Housing a ‘nesting place' for kaumatua
Waihōpai Rūnaka Kaiwhakahaere (chairman) Cyril Gilroy is looking forward to moving into his unit overlooking Murihiku Marae this year. PHOTO: NINA TAPU A southland man is counting down the months until he can live beside his ancestors. Waihōpai Rūnaka kaiwhakahaere (chairman) Cyril Gilroy has spent more than two decades dreaming about living near his tūpuna (ancestors) — now he is just months away from that dream coming true. Waihōpai Rūnaka and Te Runanga ō Ngāi Tahu helped realise Mr Gilroy's dream, at the opening of kaumātua papakāika (housing for the elderly) at Murihiku Marae last Thursday. A ceremony was held at the site, where eight new units have been built. Mr Gilroy said the building of the housing units had been a blessing. "Now I can stand on the hill and have a look at the marae. . . and see my own tūpuna," he said. "The significance is that the aroha we have for our people is to give our kaumātua a house to live." The units are part of the second stage in establishing onsite elderly housing and the realisation of a vision the local rūnaka has been working towards for more than 20 years. Waihōpai Rūnaka deputy chairman Joe Wakefield said the housing would allow the elderly to return to how Māori used to live. "It's getting back to the way. . . our people used to live together, in our papakainga villages," Mr Wakefield said. "It's like a kohanga, a nesting place for our kaumātua. "Down here . . .our kaumātua. . . are reinvesting back into our whānau and our community with their knowledge and experiences — and passing it on to the next generation." The Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (Te Tūāpapa Kura Kāinga) and Te Runanga ō Ngāi Tahu funded the building of the units. Bragg Building and Design constructed the papakāika units. Mr Gilroy is looking forward to being able to congregate with the other tenants and get back to communal living. "It [will be] a place where all us elders all together, can manaaki (help) each other, tautoko (support) each other and grow the kai. "It's our pā," he said.
