At least 3600 homeless in Auckland, but problem could be worse than count result shows

Tuesday, 9 October 2018

Auckland Mayor Phil Goff announces the results of the first region-wide homelessness count (video first published October 2018).

At least 3600 people are homeless in Auckland right now, but Mayor Phil Goff has conceded the problem could be larger than the new figures suggest.

The data was released on Tuesday and comes from Auckland's first homelessness count, which cost ratepayers $375,000.

Volunteers found 336 people living without shelter on the night of September 17. Of those, 179 people were sleeping on the streets and 157 were sleeping in cars.

However, Housing First Auckland's Fiona Hamilton said the figures represented just 40 per cent of people living without shelter on the night of the count.

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A homeless person sleeps next to their belongings in Queen St.

* Goff: Ball dropped Auckland's 'chronic' homelessness problem**

'Therefore … it is estimated there were approximately 800 people in unsheltered homelessness on 17 September, 2018,' she said.

Another 2874 people were estimated to be in temporary or emergency accommodation on the night of the count. Of those people, 1299 were children.

The count was not comprehensive, Hamilton said. Rather, it showed the minimum number of homeless at one point in time.

Volunteers gather at Eden Park for a safety briefing ahead of Auckland's first homeless census.

A known limitation of the street count was that it could under-represent the number of homeless people, she said.

Goff said public authorities had taken their 'eye off the ball to see the growth in the level of homelessness that we have witnessed'.

'No, we haven't done enough in the past. Are we doing more now? Yes,' he said.

'Do we still need to do more on top of that? Almost certainly.

Victor from Manurewa, south Auckland, has been homeless on and off since he was a teenager and spends most nights kipping down in Auckland Domain.

'The idea that somehow the market will solve all housing problems I think is a totally proven fallacy.'

Homelessness needed to be cut down through Housing First, an adequate supply of social housing and by bringing the region's housing supply back in line with demand, Goff said.

'I want to qualify it by saying that nobody who's sleeping rough has just a lack of housing as a problem,' he said.

'There are a range of circumstances and providing the social services we need to for the mentally ill, for those that suffer from drug or alcohol addiction, for those that have suffered from a breakdown in family relationships.'

It was 'not beyond belief' the city could get on top of the problem.

'The bad news is that there are probably 800 people sleeping in extreme conditions, and the good news is that actually with a real effort on the part of our community we can get on top of that problem,' Goff said.

'It could be more than that, but for the first time we've got at least an informed basis.'

Hamilton said the count quantified the 'minimum size and scale of unsheltered and temporary homelessness'.

'However, this was not an academic exercise,' she said.

People living in over-crowded homes, couch-surfing or people living in camping grounds or boarding houses were not included in the count.

Goff said 800 rough sleepers was still '800 too many'.

'Add to that another 2874 in temporary or emergency accommodation and we're looking at thousands of adults and children without a safe, secure, warm home to live in,' he said.

'I took part in the count and walked the streets of Māngere in the middle of the night. It brought home the miserable existence for many people who sleep rough in our region.'

Housing First understood the numbers would be used to inform a 'regional, cross-sectoral homeless plan for Auckland', which was being developed by Auckland Council.

While millions of dollars have been spent helping the region's homeless, a report from Auckland Council's City Centre Advisory Board in August showed an unmet need for homelessness support services.

It revealed homelessness could rise to 26,522 people by 2021 – almost the size of Timaru's population of 27,650 residents – based on average increases between censuses.

Work completed during the 2013 census suggested there were 771 people sleeping with no shelter across the region.

Another study, by Auckland City Mission chief executive Chris Farrelly, estimated 179 people were sleeping rough within three kilometres of the Sky Tower.

The 2013 census showed 20,296 people were without a house in Auckland.