The government is paying $20 million less in emergency housing grants than a year ago. Photo: RNZ / Luke McPake
The government is paying $20 million less in emergency housing grants than a year ago - and there are concerns it has led to a rise in the number of homeless.
Data from the Ministry for Social Development shows the number of emergency housing grants has dropped from 6429 in April last year to 1290 in September, or a drop from $23.04m to $3.07m.
The number of people in emergency housing has dropped from 2532 in April last year to 438.
In the September quarter of 2018, in comparison, there were 14,017 to a total $15.9m.
Of people receiving JobSeeker support, the number accessing emergency housing grants has dropped from 1614 in November 2023 to 246 in August.
The number applying has dropped from 1746 in November 2023 to 639 in August.
- Were we better off in the 80s? Listen to No Stupid Questions with Susan Edmunds
Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said that meant the rate of JobSeeker emergency housing grant applications being successful had dropped from 92 percent in 2023 to 38 percent in 2025.
"It's part of a wider story around this government's attitude to housing. They make it harder for people to access support and then point to a dropping number and say, 'look, we're winning', they're not. Things are getting worse and they're helping fewer people."
Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka said emergency housing should be a last resort.
"Our focus is on helping people into the right housing solution for them, one that supports their stability, independence, and their long-term wellbeing.
"When someone asks for housing support, the Ministry of Social Development first looks at every available option to help them avoid homelessness. That might mean connecting them with a private rental, transitional housing, or other forms of support that offer greater security and opportunity than emergency accommodation.
"Many people who apply for emergency housing are instead supported into more suitable, longer-term arrangements. In those cases, emergency housing isn't being denied, they're being guided toward a better option."
Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii
Paul Barber principal social policy analyst at the Salvation Army, said some people had been able to move from emergency housing into social housing but there was no information on where about 15 percent or 20 percent had gone.
"It's not coincidental there has been a visible rise in the number of street homeless."
He said many people who were being turned away were going to services such as the Salvation Army instead.
Shamubeel Eaqub, chief economist at Simplicity said there had not been a big increase in people going to transitional housing or Housing FIrst.
"So if people are not going to those places, where are they going to? And also the nature of homelessness is that, generally speaking, you see people just falling into homelessness for brief periods.
"And if you're able to put a floor under it, more often than not, you can deal with it. But these people have chaotic lives, right? So just because you're reducing emergency housing grants doesn't mean the need has gone away.
"And doesn't mean that they're getting any of the support that's necessary."
He said there needed to be an alternative pathway for people to find more stable housing.
"I think it'd be wonderful if it meant that these people had exited to somewhere good. And if we quite obviously and blatantly didn't see the number of people who are homeless increasing. You know, it's not like these two things are unrelated ... I don't think the public is stupid."
Sign up for Money with Susan Edmunds, a weekly newsletter covering all the things that affect how we make, spend and invest money.
