Emergency housing stocktake uncovers complaints about gangs, sex workers and dirty rooms
Wednesday, 12 June 2019
Complaints of gang activity, unsanitary conditions and a lack of smoke alarms have surfaced in a nationwide Government stocktake of more than 550 emergency housing providers.
The findings come after a Stuff investigation found a south Auckland motel received $3.1 million in emergency housing special needs grants, despite not being signed off as compliant with the building code and being the subject of multiple complaints about unsanitary conditions.
Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni eventually admitted concerns about Auckland Astro Motel, as well as the quality of emergency accommodation generally.
'I have spoken to [the Ministry of Social Development] who are looking into that and doing a bit of a stocktake on emergency housing,' she said in February.
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Following the stocktake's completion, Sepuloni told Stuff the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) was working directly with moteliers to resolve issues about emergency housing raised by tenants.
'If a motelier raises concerns about MSD clients then MSD works to resolve these issues also,' she said.
MSD client service delivery general manager Kay Read said the stocktake, done between February 28 and March 15, focused on emergency housing providers that had attracted complaints about quality.
'The Ministry's Regional Housing Managers/Advisors addressed these issues directly with the motelier,' Read said in a statement.
The stocktake involved 559 emergency housing providers and recorded 39 complaints.
Complaint themes included lack of access to washing machines, anti-social behaviour and the presence of sex workers, gang activity, dirty and old facilities, lack of smoke alarms and complaints about old facilities with ventilation issues.
Following the stocktake, MSD deputy chief executive Viv Rickard said ministry staff across the country visited motels to make sure they were up to standard.
Most of them were, he said.
'We're doing our best to stay in close contact with moteliers and we are dealing with any service or compliance issues, alongside the relevant regulatory authority, as they arise,' he added.
'We've also brought more rigour to our weekly talks with clients so that we can take action on any issues they may have straight away.
'We fully accept that for people with nowhere to live, a motel is not ideal and it's not a long-term solution to their housing problem.'
As the housing shortage continued, placing people in motels was a better option than having them live in cars or other forms of 'insecure housing', Rickards said.
Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for Labour's Phil Twyford said the Housing Minister had received advice from officials on how the Government could make sure motels receiving taxpayer money met appropriate standards.
Despite stating back in February that he was awaiting advice, Twyford only received this from officials on Tuesday morning and was yet to read it, the spokeswoman said.
Twyford has already stated there were 'no standards' tied to emergency housing special needs grants.
'The motel quality is, therefore, regulated only by the local council. I do not consider this to be acceptable,' he told Parliament in February.
'It's unacceptable that the SNGs for motels were established without accountability for the standards. That will change.'
The Government was committed to 'phasing out the last Government's reliance' on motels, he added.
According to MSD, special needs grants for housing were up 150 per cent in December 2018 on December 2017.