Aide-mémoire
Cabinet Meeting
Date:
12 May 2021
Security Level: IN CONFIDENCE
For:
Hon Dr Megan Woods, Minister of Housing
Hon Carmel Sepuloni, Minister for Social Development and
Employment
File Reference: REP/21/5/465
Aide-memoire: Oral item on transforming Emergency
Housing in New Zealand
Meeting details Cabinet Social Wellbeing Committee (SWC), Wednesday 12 May
Purpose
This aide-memoire provides advice and talking points to support
your oral item at SWC on Emergency Housing (EH). It provides an
update on current issues, and immediate and longer-term plans to
alleviate EH pressures in Rotorua and across New Zealand.
Summary
• The Government has increased supply of public housing (PH)
and Transitional Housing in the last five years, with 3,972
Transitional Housing and 73,273 PH places provided as at
January 2021.
• Despite this, the number of clients in EH Special Needs Grant
(EH SNG) motels has gone up substantially: from 700
households in October 2017 to 3,932 households by January
2021.
• Reliance on motels for EH is increasing due to housing
unaffordability, lack of supply, and limited prevention and
support – all of which have been exacerbated by the COVID-
19 pandemic.
• Current issues with Emergency Housing motels are:
o Issues relating to safety and security of some motels.
o Motel rooms are unsuitable for families.
o MSD has limited resources to support higher needs
clients in Emergency Housing.
o There is limited supply of motels in some areas.
o Clients do not always meet their obligations and can
cause damage to motels (both accidental and
deliberate).
The Aurora Centre, 56 The Terrace, PO Box 1556, Wel ington – Telephone 04-916 3300 – Facsimile 04-918 0099
o Clients are staying longer than intended (it was
designed to be a temporary intervention while people
secured more sustainable accommodation).
• Rotorua has been facing urgent housing pressures. Immediate
action to be in place by June 2021 is being taken in
collaboration with Te Arawa Iwi and Rotorua Lakes Council, to
respond to the situation, including:
o the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
contracting EH places with suitable facilities, along with
wraparound support services for whānau with children,
o expanding client support services in EH SNG or
contracted motels,
o possible legislative amendment to give Rotorua Lakes
Council a time-limited power to use reserves land for
temporary housing, and
o Kāinga Ora progressing immediate housing
opportunities including opportunities for Transitional
Housing on Māori land (including two motel purchases).
• Further work is underway in Rotorua to establishing a Housing
HUB as a co-location of Government, Iwi and NGOs to
streamline placement processes across the housing
continuum, with timing to be confirmed in two weeks after
ongoing discussions with Iwi.
• These actions will improve the quality of housing and services,
the suitability of accommodation placements for diverse clients
and family situations, and centre around iwi and whānau
needs. The model also sets up a pathway to more permanent
housing.
• Some aspects of the Rotorua model will be able to be used
elsewhere, but a place-based approach will be required when
rolling out this model in other locations or even nationwide, as
well as joint agency, iwi and local government buy-in to
progress action. Each community has a different set of
circumstances, needs, resources and provider capacity
available.
• Transforming the housing system requires a staged and
planned approach to mitigate risks of long-term motel use:
o Tackle urgent needs and issues, while taking actions to
address systemic issues that lead to EH SNG demand
across the country.
o Increase supply of Transitional Housing.
o Increase supply of affordable housing, PH and sub-
market rental housing.
o Increase prevention and support services.
o Work within the Homelessness Action Plan to focus on
at-risk cohorts such as rangatahi/young people.
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Current use of
EH and Transitional Housing is increasingly being delivered
motels
via motels
Growing demand for EH and Transitional Housing has been driven
by a shortage of affordable housing, limited availability of
prevention and support services, individual stressors and the
COVID-19 pandemic.
Different types of housing offer varying levels of client
support
•
EH SNGs are administered by MSD to help people to meet
their EH needs, generally to pay for a motel where no
better option exists (granted for seven days at a time with
no support). MSD has limited resources to support EH
clients with higher needs. There are currently 3,928
households in EH SNG motels (March 2021).
•
Transitional Housing places offer short-term housing,
including contracted motels that can be vetted for safety
and suitability, tailored support services and a further 12
weeks of support after leaving. There are currently 907
Transitional Housing motel places in contracted motels as
at December 2020.
•
Public housing (PH) are properties owned or leased by
Community Housing Providers (CHPs) and Kāinga Ora that
are tenanted to eligible people.
•
COVID-19 response places provide wraparound support
services during clients’ time in the accommodation. There
are currently 983 COVID response motel places as at
December 2020.
EH SNG motels are unsuitable for long-term use
EH SNGs were introduced in 2016 with the intent that clients
would only be in motels for up to seven days, as a last-resort
measure. As demand increases, more clients are staying in motel
places that are not fit for long-term occupancy for much longer
periods than intended.
EH SNGs can allow clients to select their own motel placements
which are then paid by MSD. As a result, MSD does not have the
regulatory levers to guarantee motel quality or, in many cases,
make decisions around their suitability and safety for diverse
clients. Compounding these concerns are issues related to:
• the higher comparative cost of EH SNGs to Transitional
Housing placements
• risks around placement of different cohorts with different
needs, and
• limited numbers of supports available for clients with
higher or complex needs in comparison to Transitional
Housing and COVID-19 response places.
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Many EH SNG recipients have received housing assistance
before
For a cohort of EH SNG recipients who received a grant in 2020,
officials looked at housing assistance provided by MSD in the last
12 months before the EH SNG was granted. For the cohort:
• 43% had received Accommodation Supplement (either for
renting or boarding costs)
• 21% had received a previous EHSNG
• 7% had a Steps to Freedom grant
• 3% had links to Public Housing
• 35% had no specific form of housing assistance
Case study:
Rotorua is facing unique and urgent housing pressures
Rotorua
Several drivers are placing pressure on the housing situation in
Rotorua. These include:
• strong population growth matched with limited private and
PH development
• housing costs rising sharply: the last five years have seen
significant growth in median rents (54%) and house prices
(84%)
• a shortage of affordable homes for low-income
households: more people are experiencing periods of
homelessness, including in EH and Transitional Housing
• an increasing PH register and unsustainable pressure being
put on EH,
• high levels of family violence pushing people into EH, and
• the highest ratio in New Zealand of EH SNG households to
Transitional Housing places (5:1 – compared to 1:1 around
New Zealand).
At 19 March 2021, 371 Rotorua households were in EH SNG
motels. Several issues have arisen as a result of this. In the
absence of a tailored and vetted placement process, many clients
are being placed in inappropriate environments for their specific
needs. For example, some motels are not suitable for families and
some do not have adequate safety measures in place.
MSD is looking to phase out 6 motels in response to these issues.
Actions will be rolled out in Rotorua immediately to
alleviate housing pressures
HUD is in the process of contracting EH places with suitable
facilities for cohorts of clients, with MSD paying the EH SNGs.
Placements will be supplemented with wraparound support
services. Approximately 200 households with children will be
moving from EH SNG motels into EH motels that are contracted
by HUD, with the aim of enabling safer, more stable housing
supported by services for an eight to 12-month period. A
dedicated funding stream will be developed to assist with this.
Priority focus will be on children and families (including those
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escaping family violence) initially and then on young people, and
disabled people.
A collaborative Housing HUB is being established that co-locates
government services, Iwi and non-government organisations.
Timing will be confirmed for this in the next two weeks after
discussions with Iwi. This will streamline triaging and placement
processes across the housing continuum to ensure clients’ full
needs are being considered.
More funding is being allocated to key stakeholders, such as
Women’s Refuge, to respond to the rise in family violence and its
corresponding implications for EH SNG demand.
A PH and Transitional Housing pipeline is being strengthened.
Kāinga Ora is also progressing immediate housing opportunities in
Rotorua, including:
• Transitional Housing opportunities across two sites, with
up to 65 potential units – with Ministerial approval to be
sought by officials soon,
• affordable and market housing on land acquired, with an
agreement currently being finalised for up to 57
permanent homes to be built over the next two-to-three
years,
• Public and Transitional Housing opportunities being
explored across a large number of sites, which could yield
up to 370 sections if fully progressed, and
• engagement with iwi/Māori landowners in Rotorua on the
use of their land for transitional housing.
HUD is also undertaking urgent work on a possible legislative
amendment to give Rotorua Lakes Council (RLC) a time-limited
power to use unneeded land reserves for Transitional Housing.
The Rotorua model has a number of benefits for clients and
the local community
Placing clients in contracted EH motels allows MSD to ensure
motel quality and increase the quality and provision of support
services. This also enables MSD to make decisions around motel
suitability and ensure placements are appropriate and safe for
specific household needs. Involvement of local iwi Te Arawa has
led to tailored iwi- and whānau-centric support and the model has
set up a pathway to more permanent housing.
The model also benefits the community at large with Government
supporting and enabling key pillars, such as local council, Kāinga
Ora, NGOs and iwi, to drive better outcomes.
Considerations
Enabling a tailored response for Rotorua required
for scaling up
significant resource in a short period of time
the Rotorua
Rotorua’s housing situation has been driven by conditions specific
model
to the city. In developing a model to combat housing pressures in
Rotorua, it has been critical for agencies, iwi, local government
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and NGOs to work together to come up with joint solutions. The
process was streamlined by having Ministers on board from its
inception to achieve an authorising environment. Scaling up this
model in other parts of the country could be time- and resource-
intensive and would require similar levels of collaborative
engagement.
Provider capacity to roll out support services more broadly may
be limited in some locations.
While government contracted motels for EH provision is an
effective mechanism for ensuring quality and control over the
placement process, it is not a solution in itself. The model must be
supplemented with a clear Transitional Housing, PH and private
housing pipeline to establish clear pathways away from motel use.
Compliance with the District Plan around motel accommodation
remains an issue. Rotorua requires change of use consents to
authorise longer-terms stays in motel accommodation. Officials
are working through this issue with the council.
The costs involved with setting up similar models around the
country will be substantial. Estimated costs for HUD to contract
motels in Rotorua for 200 families with children are between
$28m-$30m at this stage, depending on the level of support
services required. Advice will be provided in a Cabinet paper on 2
June on how this could be funded.
Actions
Significant work is already underway across New Zealand
underway
• Budget decisions have been made to invest in a Build
Programme to deliver over 18,000 new PH and Transitional
Housing places by 2024. Between 1 November 2017 and
31 March 2021, the total number of PH places increased by
7,631 and Transitional Housing places have increased by
2,364.
• The Aotearoa New Zealand Homelessness Action Plan was
launched in February 2020 with over $400m to prevent
and reduce homelessness. All 18 immediate actions are
now in place or underway.
• Work is underway in several supported housing initiatives,
including Housing First and Rapid Rehousing.
• MSD has a range of initiatives underway, including
implementing new roles (intensive case managers,
navigators and contracted Support Services) to support
people in EH and Housing Brokers to support clients into
rental properties.
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Transforming
A staged and planned approach is required to transform
the emergency
the EH system into a model that is better fit for purpose
housing
Initial focus will be on supporting those in motels while housing
system: A
supply is increased and structural issues are addressed. It will be
phased
necessary to take a place-based approach to developing housing
approach
models in other locations around the country, as each community
will have a different set of circumstances, needs, resources and
provider capacity available.
The process for identifying suitable housing providers may be able
to be implemented nationally and will require engagement with
local government and a range of other stakeholders, depending
on the specific needs and populations of individual regions. Many
of the actions that Rotorua will be implementing immediately have
the potential to be implemented in other cities and regions. This
will require a more cohesive approach to EH, including cohort
targeting, support services and conversion to PH over time
The government will look to reduce reliance on EH SNGs and
phase out the use of motels over time by increasing supply of
affordable housing, PH and sub-market rental housing, as well as
increasing access to private rentals. Supply of Transitional
Housing will also be increased by 2,000 places (to be delivered by
June 2022). Prevention and support initiatives outlined in the
Homelessness Action Plan, which includes strategies to target at-
risk cohorts like rangatahi/young people, will be implemented and
embedded.
Local council, iwi, Kāinga Ora and NGOs will be the pillars of a
place-based approach, and Government should enable and
support them to drive supply and support services in community.
Next steps
Officials will provide you with a draft Cabinet paper on 21 May for
your feedback, ahead of the Social Wellbeing Cabinet Committee
on 2 June.
Author: Out of Scope
, Employment and Housing Policy
(MSD)
Responsible manager: Hayley Hamilton, General Manager, Employment and
Housing Policy (MSD)
Out of Scope
, Manager, Housing Needs and Responses (HUD)
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Annex A – talking points
• We have been working to respond to the sharp rise in demand for emergency
housing, which saw a 67 percent increase in Emergency Housing Special Needs
Grants (EH SNGs) between June 2019 and December 2020.
• This increase can be attributed to housing unaffordability, lack of supply, limited
prevention and support, and individual life shocks like losing a job or family
violence – all of which have been exacerbated in the COVID-19 pandemic.
• These issues are especially pronounced in Rotorua, which has seen strong
population growth and limited new housing development, driving median rents
up by 54% and house prices by 84%. These pressures are reflected in the fact
that:
o Around 500 households are in government-funded motels in Rotorua,
including motels used as part of our COVID response, and those contracted
as Transitional Housing or through the EH SNG.
o There are 5 households receiving EH SNG for every Transitional Housing
place available. In the rest of New Zealand this ratio is 1:1.
o There is growing community concern about the continued use of motels for
emergency housing.
• There is a wide range of work underway across the system to address
homelessness and the underlying issues in the housing market.
• Government has been working actively in Rotorua for some time. In late 2019 a
place-based partnership was agreed between Rotorua Lakes Council, Te Arawa
Iwi, and government agencies.
• This partnership was set up in response to the pressing issues facing the
community and its housing and urban system – there have been particular
issues in Rotorua around homelessness and emergency housing, exacerbated by
the need to house people quickly through the COVID-19 lockdown.
• Because of this, officials have been working intensively since March with iwi and
Rotorua Lakes Council to identify immediate actions to enable more stable, safe
and supported housing with an initial priority focus on families with children;
ensure a pathway to a more permanent housing outcome; and implement a “by
Te Arawa, for Te Arawa” approach.
• Approximately 200 households with children will be moving from EH SNG motels
into EH motels that are contracted by HUD. While the work is initially focusing
on these families, any additional support available will focus on young people,
disabled persons and those escaping domestic violence.
• Kāinga Ora is also progressing immediate housing opportunities in Rotorua,
including:
o Transitional Housing opportunities across two sites, with up to 65 potential
units – with Ministerial approval to be sought by officials soon
o Affordable and market housing on land acquired, with an agreement
currently being finalised for up to 57 permanent homes to be built over the
next two-to-three years;
o Public and Transitional Housing opportunities being explored across a large
number of sites, which could yield up to 370 sections if fully progressed; and
o Engagement with iwi/Māori landowners in Rotorua on the use of their land
for transitional housing.
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• Relevant Ministers have agreed to four immediate actions in Rotorua.
o Firstly, Te Tūāpapa Kura Kāinga – Ministry of Housing and Urban
Development will contract specific motels to provide emergency
accommodation. This will ensure that the motels are good quality and
families are in suitable accommodation.
o Secondly, Te Tūāpapa Kura Kāinga will contract additional wraparound
support services to meet the needs of the families in those motels. MSD
will also improve supports available for those remaining in the current
EHSNG motel places.
o Thirdly, MSD will retain responsibility for assessment and placement of
people into the contracted motels and will strengthen assessment and
placement processes for emergency housing clients.
o Finally, to make access to housing support easier a Rotorua Housing HUB
will be established where people and families will be assessed to identify
what type of housing support and any additional support is needed. The
HUB will be a physical location involving iwi, MSD, the DHB and NGOs.
• Officials are in Rotorua working with iwi and Council to implement the actions,
with an immediate focus on contracting motels and providing support services
by the end of June or early July 2021. Timing will be confirmed in the next two
weeks for the HUB, after further discussions with iwi.
• To progress this work, we intend to take a paper to Cabinet in early June to
seek agreement to a funding model that can support the planned approach in
Rotorua.
• We have also asked officials to provide advice on whether the Rotorua model
could be expanded to other locations. While the model may not be appropriate
everywhere, we’ll be looking at whether elements of the approach could be
beneficial.
• We will also ensure that place-based approaches are at the centre of any
expansion so that Iwi, local councils, NGOs, and other agencies are collectively
shaping bespoke solutions.
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