Increase in public housing still leaves some people out in the cold

Housing New Zealand properties like the ones completed in Poynter Place last year are not enough to meet the growing demand for affordable housing in Whanganui. Photo / Bevan Conley

Despite a number of new Housing New Zealand properties becoming available, high priority Whanganui tenants are still missing out.

The Ministry of Social Development (MSD) assesses the needs of clients on the housing register and rates them according to need.

Priority A applicants are considered to be at risk and include households that have a severe and persistent housing need that must be addressed immediately.

A woman living in a caravan without power and running water had been assessed as priority A17 (A20 is the highest rating) by the ministry but has not been offered a home.

MSD regional commissioner Gloria Campbell said although that is a high rating, there are others with more immediate needs.

"It is unfortunate, but there are many of our clients who are worse off.

"Clients with extreme health conditions, specific access needs, family violence issues."

The latest quarterly report, released in March this year shows that in the Whanganui district there were 96 applications on the Housing Register, 529 households in public housing and 18 transitional housing places.

Five new one and two-bedroom Housing New Zealand properties have recently been tenanted in Whanganui and a further 18 properties are scheduled to be signed off by late August.

A number of those will be occupied by existing Housing New Zealand tenants who are moving from larger properties they no longer need in order to make them available for families on the waiting list or from properties that need upgrading.

Whanganui People's Centre manager Sharon Semple who works with homeless clients said she knows of one man who will be moving to a new public housing property.

"Unfortunately the price of private rentals in Whanganui has increased dramatically, making them unaffordable for the people we work with," she said.

Semple said the supply of affordable rental housing in Whanganui is exceeding the demand and although the new public housing is welcome, it does not solve the problem.

She sees a need for more transitional housing which provides warm, dry and safe short-term accommodation along with tailored social support.

Semple said it would be great if there were more providers in Whanganui.

"There are some brilliant tiny house initiatives overseas and I'd love to see something like that here."

The Housing New Zealand builds in Whanganui are the first since 1990 and part of the Government's aim to create an additional 6400 public housing homes nationally by 2022.

The building is overseen by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

HUD chief executive of funding and delivery Scott Gallacher said the ministry is aware of the shortage of housing in Whanganui.

"We acknowledge this puts many people and families in a challenging situation," he said.

"The Ministry continues to work with Housing New Zealand and a number of community housing providers to increase supply in the region.

Gallacher said a further 25 new public housing properties will be built in Whanganui by 2022.