The numbers behind the housing crisis have been revealed. Photo / File
Cira Olivier
Rotorua rents and house prices have soared to the extent homes now cost more than 18 times the median income and rents are up 64 per cent in five years.
And as the city's housing stock dwindles, more people are being forced on to an ever-growing list for social housing - prompting alarm from those working in the sector.
The median value for Rotorua properties was currently $505,000, up from $445,000 this time last year.
According to the latest Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment data the mean weekly rent in Rotorua has risen 64 per cent in five years - from $262 in August 2015 to $431 in August this year.
Salvation Army Rotorua centre manager Tania Hore said people were being forced to live with their exes, couch surf, and sleep in cars to do "whatever they can" while waiting for a place to stay.
She said there was a constant, regular stream of inquiries about housing and needing to get into houses, rentals and emergency accommodation.
Hore said high rent meant people had less money, putting more stress on families.
The Salvation Army provides transitional housing services and provided more than 3100 nights of accommodation in 11 units in the year ending in June.
In July, the Ministry of Housing released its 2018 report into severe housing deprivation, finding there were 729 people in Rotorua classed as living in "severely crowded" homes.
According to Statistics New Zealand's most recent data on median income, the 2018 median was $28,000 while the median household average was $65,300.
An Infometrics spokesman said there was an increasing number of people on jobseeker, sole parent, and other benefits as well as more households with more than one family.
Te Taumata o Ngāti Whakaue Iho Ake Trust team leader Jordon Harris said homelessness was growing and more people were seeking help, with more waiting for permanent housing.
The trust is involved in facilitating the social services and 24-hour security at Rotorua's Four Canoes Hotel on Fenton St which has a $1.2 million government contract to house homeless until March next year.
"The people we see are at the end of their rope, they have nowhere else to turn. For a lot of them, emergency housing is their only option," Harris said.
While Rotorua has programmes to support long-term homeless into social housing, he said high rents were hitting average families who may not fit social housing or subsidies criteria.
"This isn't an easy fix ... we need to work together, pull our resources and our minds together to think outside the box because the box is full and we need to upsize."
Rotorua Budget Advisory Services manager Pakanui Tuhura said he expected to see an increase in hardships now the rent freeze has been lifted and landlords were able to increase rents.
Their advice varied from person to person and could include legally increasing their income in ways like taking in a paying boarder or reducing non-essential spending.
"Accommodation is a basic need so high rentals mean less money to cover the other essentials such as food and power."
He said family relationships suffered and individuals had negative feelings as a result of a lack of control of their money.
"Those feelings can lead to other social issues. Sacrifices differ as people give up what they have to to take back control of their lives."
This could mean sacrificing personal space as families share accommodation, sacrificing a home lived in for years to find cheaper accommodation or selling the family car.
"Mortgage rates are very low at the moment so the barriers to owning a home are the supply of affordable homes, the inability to provide a suitable deposit, and the inability to service the loan."
A Ministry of Housing and Urban Development spokeswoman said new housing consents in Rotorua were one of the lowest in the country by population.
According to Census data the population increased by 10.1 per cent, from 65,280 people in 2013 to 71,877 in 2018.
"This has increased the cost of housing in Rotorua significantly."
OneRoof editor Owen Vaughan said the median value for Rotorua properties was currently $505,000, up from $445,000 this time last year.
An increase in demand for existing housing has meant it had become less available for those on the lowest incomes which had a direct effect on the Public Housing Register and reliance on motels.
As a result of the challenges, the Government announced a place-based partnership between the ministry, Te Arawa iwi, and Rotorua Lakes Council earlier this year, to gain a better understanding of the pressures facing the city.
This partnership has so far supported the development of He Papakāinga, He Hāpori Taurikura – Te Poupou Rautaki, a housing strategy for Rotorua which is yet to be implemented.
Rotorua Lakes Council strategy group manager Jean-Paul Gaston said the Housing and Thriving Communities Strategic Framework acknowledged it was not just about building housing.
This aims to address the housing shortage from multiple aspects, with multiple parties committed, he said.
"No single organisation or agency can solve this issue."
Council's role includes investing in infrastructure, district plan changes and planning with communities to enable housing, working with developers, and working with relevant agencies.
This would ensure homes were healthy and connected, safe, resilient communities were formed, "rather than just build houses", he said.
Rotorua Lakes Council current work:
• Housing and Thriving Communities Strategic Framework, developed in partnership with Te Arawa and Central Government agencies.
• Ongoing Healthy Homes initiative.
• Collaboration with Tatau Pounamu Collective on an Eastside locality plan.
• Long-term infrastructure planning and upgrades.
• District Plan Change to facilitate housing at Pukehangi.
• Funding for roading and stormwater upgrades to support proposed housing at Wharenui.
• Climate Action Plan including infrastructure resilience planning.
By the numbers:
• The number on the Housing Register - those in need of public housing - was 540 people in the June quarter compared to 464 in the March quarter.
• The number of public housing tenancies was 702 in June compared to 690 in March.
• There were 2088 Emergency Housing Special Needs Grant approvals in the June quarter worth a total of $5.05 million.
• It cost $1.2m more even though there were fewer grants in the March quarter which totalled 2633.
• These grants help individuals and families with the cost of staying in short-term accommodation if they are unable to access transitional housing.
He is 'living proof' of what can be achieved through people donating their organs.