Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern opens facility to house homeless in Māngere, Auckland

Thursday, 10 October 2019

PM Jacinda Ardern said the Government was making good steps to help those without homes, but poverty can't be solved in two years (August 2019)

A multi-million dollar facility to house south Auckland's homeless has opened in south Auckland with 100 families already on the waiting list.

Homelessness has been a persistent problem for a long time, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said at the opening on Thursday.

'The ultimate goal is for people not to need transitional housing like this … no-one wants families in temporary homes, we want long-term homes.'

The 30 two-bedroom units are the first of their kind.

* Auckland's Monte Cecilia Housing Trust to undergo $12 million redevelopment

* Over 8700 Kiwi families waiting 137 days for a public house

* Government announces $100m plan to fight homelessness

* Experts warn homelessness in Auckland will be worse this winter**

They are currently being used for transitional housing - with families staying an average of 12-14 weeks - but they're built to be permanent social housing once the homelessness crisis is over.

In the meantime, 11 families have already moved in, some overnight. And it's expected the units will be full by the end of the month.

'The goal is to provide more housing for more people,' Ardern said.

'Everyone should have a warm, dry home, and there are a range of complex issues we're having to overcome to meet those housing needs in New Zealand but we are making good progress.'

Ardern said the Government had maintained over 2800 transitional housing places and built over 2000 public housing places.

'We absolutely have a priority, we've got to get children out of things like cars, even hotels, and get them into long-term sustainable housing.'

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said providing warm dry homes was a priority for Government.

The two-bedroom units are owned and run by Monte Cecilia Housing Trust.

They are self-contained, 70 sqm in size, are fitted with fibre and solar panels and furnished with long-lasting quality furniture.

Chief executive Bernie Smith said Māngere was the epicentre of the housing crisis in New Zealand.

Earlier this week, a family turned up with only rubbish bags of clothes, he said. They had been sleeping in their car.

Another whānau helped by the trust had eight children living in eight separate homes across the country. Monte Cecilia allowed them to live together.

Smith expects the new facility will house around 120 families a year, which means between 150 and 200 people on site on any given day.

In the past financial year, the trust has helped just over 1600 people; half were children under the age of six.

And about 80 per cent of the whānau they help are Pasifika.

Monte Cecilia Housing Trust chief executive Bernie Smith said Māngere is the epicentre of the housing crisis.

'There's a lot of community fatigue around homelessness, so much is being heard about it, Smith said.

'A lot of people think [homelessness is about] lazy people, people who can't be bothered working, but it's the society we live at the moment

'In south Auckland, they're claiming exorbitant rents. They're milking the system to the disadvantage of our families.'

Smith said the 2013 Census statistics highlighted the country's substandard housing and overcrowding. He expects the 2018 Census data will be much the same when the full results are released.

'We know that it's worsened.

'We're right in the middle of the biggest crisis, but every city and every community is faced with crisis.'