Rotorua homelessness problem only growing

No-one is quite sure how many people are homeless in Rotorua. Photo/File

Rotorua families are sleeping in cars, couch surfing or are living on the streets as the city's homeless problem continues to get worse.

Tiny Deane, who is in the process of setting up a homeless shelter, said there were dozens of families in need of homes in Rotorua.

"There's only a small minority of rough sleepers ... the bigger picture is parents with kids sleeping in cars all over Rotorua."

Estimates of rough sleepers varied hugely but between 30 and 60 were estimated to be sleeping on Rotorua streets in 2015 by agencies dealing with homelessness.

Love Soup Rotorua co-ordinator Gina Peiffer said the number of homeless people in Rotorua had tripled in recent months.

"Every day I'm still fielding phone calls from families and couples who have been given notice and they're homeless."

Mrs Peiffer thought the Government's figures on the number of people waiting for social housing could be as much as three times too small, based on the need she saw in Rotorua.

"They would need right now a good couple of hundred houses to deal with the rate of homelessness.

"The figures they're working on with the homeless they aren't accurate - they're twice or triple that."

She admitted she wasn't sure what the solution was, but said the problem was simple - not enough houses.

Love Soup Rotorua founder Gina Peiffer. Photo/Stephen Parker

"Do they build, do they start putting all these housing New Zealand P houses, get them cleaned up in a real hurry so they can be utilised."

Whatever scheme the Government came up with to provide housing, Love Soup would support them, Mrs Peiffer said.

"We'll support anything that helps those that are homeless, that's it, bottom line."

Lifewise Rotorua manager Haehaetu Barrett said a head count would be a priority for a new inter-agency co-ordinator starting work on Monday.

An action plan to deal with homelessness was launched in 2015 by a number of different organisations helping the homeless to work together on the issue.

The job has only become more difficult, with the worsening housing crisis and homelessness.

"We can definitely see there's been an increase in people accessing services," Ms Barrett said.

Government agencies have put more resources into helping the homeless over the past few years, Ms Barrett said, particularly the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) in Rotorua.

The Housing First initiative in Auckland, a partnership between Lifewise, the Auckland Council and the Government, has been very successful, Ms Barrett observed.

"That model is quite connected, in partnership with central government.

"We need to have that support and the buy-in from central government."

Housing First prioritised finding permanent housing for the homeless before giving other support such as assistance with mental health and addictions.

Mr Deane said government funding had increased, but he was unsure whether that was just because of the upcoming election.

"The Government does seem to be putting money into it. There's only so much they can do."

He said the Salvation Army alone had 45 families waiting for housing assistance, and LinkPeople, an organisation working with the MSD, had around 40.

Mr Deane also has one family living with him, and several more visiting his house every morning to shower.

Tiny Deane and his partner Lynley McMillan, who are setting up a homeless shelter. Photo/Ben Fraser

There were 103 families on the waiting list for state housing in Rotorua in June, up from 23 just two years earlier.

Most of these families - 71 - were priority A, those the Ministry of Social Development deemed "at risk".

This means they were unable to access or sustain "suitable, adequate and affordable alternative housing".

The issue has been exacerbated by a lack of private rental properties available.

Richard Evans of Rotorua Rentals said on Thursday he had just one rental property on his books that was vacant and available, and another three where tenants had given notice.

"It seems to be getting worse.

"I got one family in my office this morning, they'd been living in a car for a couple of weeks."

The problem was made worse by a recent Work and Income incentive of $5000 for people to move out of Auckland, he said.

An action plan to help the homeless was launched in February last year to help agencies work together to end homelessness.

Rents have risen hugely since 2015, jumping from a median price of $257.50 a week in February 2015 to $330 in June this year.

Mr Evans said a recent survey showed most landlords were not asking for rent increases, despite the huge demand for rental houses.

"In the 12 months up to the first of July, only 23 per cent wanted a rent increase."

Council bureaucracy made it harder to build new homes, he said, which also contributed to supply issues.

"If anyone can fix the supply problem, I think they'll be very popular."

The Government announced a plan to acquire another 117 new social houses in Rotorua in April, although this would take three years and some would be transitional, rather than permanent, homes.

- Additional reporting by Tess Nichol