Media Release: 90 day plan to halve homelessness in Auckland’s Inner City

Homelessness has reached an all-time high in Auckland’s Inner City with the Auckland City Mission reporting that 147 people are sleeping rough within a 3km radius of the Sky Tower. The problems have increased in recent years with the closing of the night shelter and an increase in the waiting list for social housing.

Waitemata & Gulf Council Candidate Rob Thomas has today announced a 90 day project that could provide temporary emergency accommodation for 70 people. Mr Thomas is proposing a unprecedented community volunteer building project that will provide interim tiny houses for people at a key site in Auckland’s City Centre.

Mr Thomas said “Auckland Council are putting lives at risk by their inactiveness on homelessness. Council has sat on its hands over the last year with $360,000 for temporary emergency housing and has achieved nothing. This 90 day plan provides people with basic necessities and human dignity.”

The proposal isn't a long-term housing solution but will help those most at risk until long-term social housing becomes available. Each tiny house would cost an est. $3,200 to build and provide shelter, warmth, lighting, solar usb charger and a storage locker. Within the existing $360,000 annual budget this would include the costs of 24 hour security, bathrooms facilities, a bike shed and a large community garden.

Mr Thomas said “Housing prices and rents have skyrocketed in Auckland and we have to be thinking creatively to deliver results for our most vulnerable people. Spending $360,000 on renting properties for 70 people would run out in under three months in Auckland.”

Mr Thomas is inspired by the work of Living Big In A Tiny House Director Bryce Langston who has traveled the country visiting tiny homes where New Zealanders are living comfortably. The Living Big In A Tiny House YouTube channel has been viewed by millions of people worldwide showcase the most extraordinary Kiwi DIY projects.

As part of the project Mr Thomas has suggested a volunteer army in a "The Block" style event on Auckland’s Waterfront, asking DIY Aucklanders to work with those without a home to build a Tiny House on their lunch breaks. Mr Thomas believes there is an opportunity for a dollar for dollar philanthropic investment from Auckland’s business community that could deliver enough emergency housing for the current 147 sleeping in Auckland’s City Centre within six months.

Mr Thomas said “The money is there. The land is there. The will is there. We just need to get on with it and stop mucking about.”

In September this year, the Kauri Street Nursery Depot which currently occupies 2 hectares of land in the Auckland Domain will become vacant. The site already contains a number of buildings and has a secure perimeter. The site is perfectly located within walking distance of the city centre, access to social services, the hospital and public transport.

Mr Thomas said “There is no greater need now than to support those sleeping rough on our street. The former Kauri Street nursery could provide an ideal location for temporary housing and a pathway towards horticultural training."

Mr Thomas acknowledges that the other half to Auckland’s homelessness problem is sorting out long-term social housing through a joint partnership between the Government and Auckland Council.

Prime Minister John Key has said that WINZ shows there were 428 people recorded as homeless in the month of March. However, the government’s commitment of an additional $2 million for emergency support would, under Auckland’s current rent prices, provide accommodation for just over 2 months for these 428 people.

Mr Thomas said “$2 million might provide an additional 400 tiny homes on empty sites across Auckland. Otherwise the money would be squandered on exorbitant rent prices instead of flexible emergency housing options.”

Mr Thomas believes the homelessness problem is likely to be far greater than the WINZ figures and that building Tiny Houses in Auckland could be part of a package deal that would better utilise public money while long-term social housing became available. Tiny Homes could also be re-utilised for emergency housing in the event of natural disasters.

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