Tauranga iwi boss Paora Stanley claims emergency housing ripped off by some tenants and providers

An iwi emergency housing provider has welcomed a Government crackdown on the system and hopes it will help sort the “liars and cheats” from those in genuine need. However, another expert says the “short-sighted” rule
changes will lead to “social discrimination” of already-marginalised people. Carmen Hall reports.

“Liars and thieves.”

That is how Ngāi Te Rangi chief executive Paora Stanley describes some emergency housing tenants “who are just scamming it” and “ripping off services” designed to help those in genuine need.

Stanley, who grew up without secure housing, told NZME those sentiments also extended to a few emergency housing providers throughout the country offering, in his view, “really substandard housing” and who were “chasing the money”.

The Government plans to end the “blight” of large-scale emergency housing, including in motels, which costs $340 million a year.

Families with children in emergency housing for 12-plus weeks would be eligible to be fast-tracked into social housing, with more scrutiny placed on applicants and providers.

Ngāi Te Rangi provides emergency and transitional housing, social and health services and employment programmes.

Emergency housing is short-term accommodation such as motels and transitional housing is the bridge before secure long-term accommodation.

“Finding out who needs it isn’t a bad thing,” Stanley said, regarding increasing scrutiny of emergency housing applicants and providers.

There were some “really sad stories” and “no doubt there are those who need [emergency housing]”.

“The liars and the cheats are clogging up our system. They always have and always will … so we have to wade through their bullshit and end up wasting a lot of time.”

Ngāi Te Rangi also ran programmes to help people get jobs and licences and move out of its temporary housing

“We’ve got to find a way of educating you … so you can move out and other deserving people can come in.”

Some people living on the streets were homeless by choice and it was the families with children he felt for.

As a child, Stanley “lived from shed to shed and garage to garage – so I know what that is like”.

“Those are the people we are attempting to help.”

‘Frontline organisations will be unpicked’

Tē Tuinga Whānau Support Services Trust community connecter and former executive director Tommy Wilson said emergency housing was “the last-chance hotel” and the new rules were “social discrimination”.

He feared if the number of motels used for emergency housing was reduced radically it would have a major impact.

“All the good work that has been done by Tē Tuinga Whānau Support Services and other frontline organisations will be unpicked and we will be back to square one again. It’s short-sighted solutions.”

“Their [the Government] focus seems to be marginalising those that are already marginalised. It’s social discrimination.”

He said thousands of people had been through emergency accommodation and had received wrap-around social services provided by Tē Tuinga Whānau Support Services and “that need has not gone away”.

Te Tuinga was a registered not-for-profit trust and provided numerous social services including emergency and transitional housing.

‘We don’t seem to be getting closer to a solution’

Bay Financial Mentors general manager Shirley McCombes said some organisations seemed to be “making a lot of money out of emergency housing, and we don’t seem to be getting closer to a solution”.

“My big fear is that we already have people with nowhere to go, and people sleeping in cars. The reasons people end up in emergency housing is more than just a lack of accommodation, it is domestic violence, addiction, chronic illness, poor mental health, poor credit, previous issues with the tenancy tribunal, and association with people who create issues.’’

She said it was important that people go into transitional housing so that services can be wrapped about them so they have the best chance at maintaining a tenancy.

‘More complex reasons for being unhoused’

Tauranga Housing Trust general manager Jacqui Ryan said she supports the korero motels were not suitable for short or long-term residential accommodation, particularly for whanau groups.

The trust was the first transitional housing provider in the Bay of Plenty in 2017 and was designed for people who lost their job or rental but could be quickly supported back into the market.

Now the rental market was more unaffordable and demand for public housing had not been met, putting stress on emergency and transitional housing.

“This extreme demand has resulted in a change in the type of tenant referred . … The people housed have the highest need rating and much more complex reasons for being unhoused. They require more intensive management and support and most have significant barriers to achieving a market rental and are effectively waiting for a public housing allocation.”

She said “medium- and low-rating” applicants miss out on public housing as “their need is great but unfortunately not deemed as dire as others ranked above them”.

She said it was not ideal for people to stay too long in transitional housing but providers could still make a positive difference when they did by working with whānau to improve their situations.

A waiting list but needs don’t always match the house

Visions of a Helping Hand executive assistant to the chief executive Anna Riddler said the contracted provider of transitional housing in Rotorua and South Waikato was dedicated to offering warm, dry and secure short-term accommodations.

Its service model involved housing navigators, social workers and property managers who work closely with each household and a specialist team that engages with high-needs clients.

“The reasons individuals may require transitional housing range from the sale of their rental property to changes in living arrangements with family members. We have a waiting list of clients, but their needs don’t always match the size of the available house.”

Latest MSD data showed of the more than 25,000 applicants for social housing in New Zealand as at December, about 900 were in Rotorua, 800 in Tauranga and 210 in the Western Bay.

Emergency housing halves in Rotorua

Ministry for Social Development (MSD) group manager housing Karen Hocking said there were 27 emergency housing suppliers in the Bay of Plenty region including six in Rotorua and eight in Tauranga.

The number of households in emergency housing in Rotorua had halved over the past year and the Government had been clear it wanted to stop large-scale reliance on motels.

Associate Minister for Housing Tama Potaka said most emergency housing residents were in genuine need, respected the properties, and were looking for another place to stay.

Unfortunately, a relatively small number of rule-breakers could make it harder for those with a genuine need.

MSD was strengthening the verification processes for emergency housing applicants to help ensure the right support is available.

It had introduced minimum standards emergency housing suppliers must meet and provide the same level of service to MSD clients as other paying guests, Potaka said.

“We’ll continue to explore a range of options including better support to prevent the need for emergency housing in the first place, as well as for those who exit.”

New emergency housing rules

Carmen Hall is a news director for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post, covering business and general news. She has been a Voyager Media Awards winner and a journalist for 25 years.