Gamma Hotel Emergency Housing Provider
Marcus made this Official Information request to Ministry of Social Development
The request was successful.
From: Marcus
Dear Ministry of Social Development,
I have a few questions regarding Gamma Hotel located at 54 Emily Place, Auckland Central which I understand to be an emergency housing provider.
I'm happy for this OIA to be published on the MSD website, with my personal details anonymised, as is standard for all MSD OIA requests.
1. Gamma Hotel appears to be a trading name. What is the underlying business name and/or NZBN of the supplier?
2. When did Gamma Hotel register as an emergency housing supplier with the Ministry?
3. For the past 3 financial years, how much has been paid to Gamma Hotel by the Ministry? I understand this will not be direct but indirect by way of the EH SNG model.
5. Have any restrictions or penalties been placed on Gamma Hotel by the Ministry at any time?
6. Have any complaints been submitted to the Ministry at any point in regards to Gamma Hotel? Either directly to the Ministry or via Auckland Council?
7. In general, is there anything you might consider notable about the Ministry's relationship with Gamma Hotel compared to any other providers?
8. What is, roughly, the average amount of time that emergency residents stay with Gamma Hotel before being able to transition to a more permanent residence?
9. What is the longest amount of time that any single resident has been with Gamma Hotel before being able to transition to a more permanent residence? This may be historical or ongoing. If ongoing, the running length up to the point that this OIA is actioned is fine.
10. Is the Ministry aware of any relationship between Gamma Hotel and the Anglesea Motel & Conference Centre? (There probably isn't, I'm just throwing it in as they coincidentally use the same website template is all)
I also have a couple of questions more broadly about emergency housing:
11. For motels/hotels acting as emergency housing providers, are non-emergency guests entitled to any up front awareness of emergency housing arrangements?
a. I would assume emergency guests have an overriding right to privacy in this case but would you be able to speak to this point and/or cite any relevant legislation either way?
12. What, if any, official avenues exist for third parties providing feedback about emergency housing providers to the Ministry?
a. From a previous OIA response, it sounds like the Regional Housing team are able to liaise with moteliers on quality and service. If the above is accurate, what would be the intended route to surface information to that team?
Thanks for your time and efforts.
Yours faithfully,
Marcus
From: OIA_Requests (MSD)
Ministry of Social Development
Tēnā koe Marcus,
Thank you for your email received 15 April 2024, under the Official Information Act 1982. Your request has been forwarded to the appropriate officials at National Office to respond.
Ngā manaakitanga,
Official and Parliamentary Information Team | Ministerial and Executive Services
Ministry of Social Development
Our Purpose:
We help New Zealanders to help themselves to be safe, strong and independent
Ko ta mātou he whakamana tangata kia tū haumaru, kia tū kaha, kia tū motuhake
-----Original Message-----
From: Marcus <[FOI #26441 email]>
Sent: Monday, April 15, 2024 2:06 PM
To: OIA_Requests (MSD) <[MSD request email]>
Subject: Official Information request - Gamma Hotel Emergency Housing Provider
Dear Ministry of Social Development,
I have a few questions regarding Gamma Hotel located at 54 Emily Place, Auckland Central which I understand to be an emergency housing provider.
I'm happy for this OIA to be published on the MSD website, with my personal details anonymised, as is standard for all MSD OIA requests.
1. Gamma Hotel appears to be a trading name. What is the underlying business name and/or NZBN of the supplier?
2. When did Gamma Hotel register as an emergency housing supplier with the Ministry?
3. For the past 3 financial years, how much has been paid to Gamma Hotel by the Ministry? I understand this will not be direct but indirect by way of the EH SNG model.
5. Have any restrictions or penalties been placed on Gamma Hotel by the Ministry at any time?
6. Have any complaints been submitted to the Ministry at any point in regards to Gamma Hotel? Either directly to the Ministry or via Auckland Council?
7. In general, is there anything you might consider notable about the Ministry's relationship with Gamma Hotel compared to any other providers?
8. What is, roughly, the average amount of time that emergency residents stay with Gamma Hotel before being able to transition to a more permanent residence?
9. What is the longest amount of time that any single resident has been with Gamma Hotel before being able to transition to a more permanent residence? This may be historical or ongoing. If ongoing, the running length up to the point that this OIA is actioned is fine.
10. Is the Ministry aware of any relationship between Gamma Hotel and the Anglesea Motel & Conference Centre? (There probably isn't, I'm just throwing it in as they coincidentally use the same website template is all)
I also have a couple of questions more broadly about emergency housing:
11. For motels/hotels acting as emergency housing providers, are non-emergency guests entitled to any up front awareness of emergency housing arrangements?
a. I would assume emergency guests have an overriding right to privacy in this case but would you be able to speak to this point and/or cite any relevant legislation either way?
12. What, if any, official avenues exist for third parties providing feedback about emergency housing providers to the Ministry?
a. From a previous OIA response, it sounds like the Regional Housing team are able to liaise with moteliers on quality and service. If the above is accurate, what would be the intended route to surface information to that team?
Thanks for your time and efforts.
Yours faithfully,
Marcus
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From: OIA_Requests (MSD)
Ministry of Social Development
Tçnâ koe Marcus,
Please find attached the Ministry’s response to your Official Information
Act request.
Nâ mâtou noa, nâ
Official Information Team | Ministerial and Executive Services
Ministry of Social Development
Our Purpose:
We help New Zealanders to be safe, strong and independent
Manaaki Tangata, Manaaki Whânau
This email and any attachments may contain information that is
confidential and subject to legal privilege. If you are not the intended
recipient, any use, dissemination, distribution or duplication of this
email and attachments is prohibited. If you have received this email in
error please notify the author immediately and erase all copies of the
email and attachments. The Ministry of Social Development accepts no
responsibility for changes made to this message or attachments after
transmission from the Ministry.
Marcus left an annotation ()
Thanks to this, I confirmed that Gamma Hotel (Steelpoint Hotel Limited under the hood) is part of Roger Nolan and Jinhua Ou's collection of hotels that receive a great deal of emergency housing funds.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/motel-mone...
> A handful of companies owning multiple properties have swallowed up around 20 per cent of the emergency housing funding. The biggest recipients were motel owners Roger Nolan and Jinhua Ou, whose 13 properties earned $60m in emergency housing grants. One of their properties, the Anglesea Motel in Hamilton, earned $16.2m in grants alone between 2017 and 2022. The two businessmen did not respond to requests for comment.
Emergency housing in itself isn't an issue to be clear but between the supplier guidelines being purely voluntary and reviews from guests who claim to have been harassed and made to feel unsafe, I can't help but wonder if these motel owners are just doing the bare minimum to keep housing grants coming in
https://www.google.co.nz/travel/hotels/e...
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Marcus left an annotation ()
Oh, I guess this request triggered some rule because I mentioned "my personal details"
Link to this