Hon Tama Potaka
Associate Minister of Housing

A strong focus on supporting people into better homes has seen the number of households still in emergency housing reduce to under 1000 since the Government came into office one year ago, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says.

“The total number of households living in emergency housing motels has been reduced by 68 percent under our Government – from 3,141 in December last year to 993 at the end of October 2024. The money being spent on emergency housing continues to fall - from about $31.6 million in October 2023 to $10.76 million in October 2024.

“National campaigned on a promise to deliver real change for people stuck in emergency housing and we are delivering on that promise.

“The progress we have made this year highlights just how effective the Priority One policy introduced in April has been. Since then, 786 households including 1,608 tamariki who were in emergency housing have been placed in social housing through the Priority One pathway. The pathway focusses on whānau with tamariki who have been in emergency housing for 12 weeks or more into social homes by putting them at the front of the housing register queue.

“There are 972 tamariki currently in emergency housing, a drop from 1170 from the month before. Efforts will continue to be made to give priority to these households in finding them permanent homes.”

Mr Potaka says the Government continues to make good progress to achieve the target of reducing the number of households in emergency housing by 75 percent by 2030.

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In addition, the Government is trialling a social outcomes contracting approach to support single people and couples who don’t have children living with them, starting with those who have been in emergency housing for more than 12 months.

The two-year trial with Emerge Aotearoa in Hamilton and the Downtown Community Ministry in Wellington will support up to 100 people. Eligible households will include those not already registered for another housing support service.

Wellington and Hamilton were chosen due to the high number of people in emergency housing in these locations, particularly single people or couples without children. In October, there were 198 households in emergency housing in Waikato and 180 in Wellington.

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