Hine Taylor. Photo: RNZ/Katie Todd
Queenstown's Hine Taylor has been living couch-to-couch for more than five months while she sits tight on a lengthy social housing waiting list.
She said she longs to have a place of her own - "a warm, safe home over my head."
Taylor estimated she knew about 10 other people sleeping in cars, on the street or couch-surfing in Queenstown, who hoped to find a place to call home before winter set in.
She had been told there was no emergency housing available at all.
"Emergency housing does not exist... it used to apparently in Queenstown. So what more do you do, but carry on living in faith that in due time [a house] may pop along," she said.
Ministry of Social Development (MSD) data showed the number of households in emergency housing in Otago and Southland fell from 27 in November 2023 to just three in March.
In comparison, there were 36 households in emergency housing in the West Coast and Tasman regions, 30 in Bay of Plenty and nine in the central North Island, all of which had smaller populations than Otago and Southland.
MSD received more than 100 applications for emergency housing from people in the Southland district in the three months to March but declined more than half.
The ministry did not provide a breakdown of the reasons why, although in some cases it said there were other housing options available.
The Ministry of Social Development last year introduced new rules to cut the number of people using emergency housing, including tougher eligibility criteria and a stand-down for 13 weeks on the housing grant if someone broke the rules.
At the time, ministers maintained emergency housing would "always be available as a last resort for those who need it".
Dunedin Night Shelter manager David McKenzie said he was stunned to learn of the lack of emergency housing, with a visible rise in homelessness.
He estimated there were about 30 or 40 "hardcore homeless" in the city and dozens of other "hidden homeless" living in cars or on couches.
Dunedin oval where fire broke out in homeless camp. Photo: RNZ / Tess Brunton
Earlier this month fire tore through the tents of a homeless camp at The Oval, with one person treated for minor injuries.
McKenzie said some people staying at the shelter told him they had been turned away from emergency housing because they had "contributed to their own need".
"We are seeing, at the night shelter, a level of desperation from some people that we've not seen before," he said.
A local motel that provided 10 transitional housing units would no longer offer room from next month after deciding not to review its Ministry of Housing and Urban Development contract.
The ministry was helping people find alternative accommodation but conceded there could be a "small drop" in the number of transitional housing places in Dunedin.
McKenzie said it would have an impact.
"At the night shelter the issues generally not been having enough night shelter beds. The issue has always been the where to next for people," he said.
The government had repeatedly denied claims that changes to emergency housing rules had contributed to a rise in homelessness.
MSD southern regional director Sue Rissman said emergency housing was limited in Otago and Southland because rental properties were more available and rents lower relative to other regions.
She said it remained a "last resort".
"If someone who applies is eligible for a different and more suitable type of support, we will provide that instead," she said in a statement.
There had been a significant increase in social housing, Rissman said.
"In the period since April 2024 there has been an increase of 98 public homes in Dunedin and 32 in Invercargill which has helped with demand for housing," she said.
Data provided to RNZ under the Official Information Act suggested that change had not quelled demand for emergency housing.
In the first three months of this year MSD received 108 applications for emergency housing from people in the Southland District.
It declined 58 - more than half - compared to a decline rate of about one in three nationally.
There were 643 people on the register for public housing in Otago and Southland in March.
Community Law Otago solicitor Rupert O'Brien said his organisation had heard of people in unsafe or makeshift housing situations being told that they were ineligible for emergency housing grants.
"In our discussions with MSD's head office and policy team in Wellington they've said that ought not to be happening and that's not their instructions to the frontline staff. Well that is our experience," he said.
Labour MP Ingrid Leary. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Taieri Labour MP Ingrid Leary said the figures were "devastating" and did not include people who had struggled to apply for emergency housing in the first place.
"It's really difficult for people to get appointments to even get on the list," she said.
"It's extremely concerning given the very high level of need that we have and also taking into account the cold temperatures we experience.
"People who are not in houses - say they're in tents or in cars - it makes it even worse for them that they cannot get into emergency housing," she said.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
