Housing crisis causes trauma and affects mental health
Salvation Army territorial director of community ministries Jono Bell said traditionally, beneficiaries and low-income earners were the organisation’s primary clientele.
But that was changing.
The housing crisis was now “eating into middle-class NZ”.
“Whole portions of society are being traumatised by the homelessness situations they find themselves in.”
He said people with regular incomes were using creative measures to secure rental properties.
“Nobody wants to be homeless. It’s not an option for anyone especially if you have got children or you are caring for other family members.
“You have more than one family living in a home to bring up the income to support the rent. That leads to overcrowding and a whole lot of other issues.
“People are often then evicted or blacklisted.”
Heightened anxiety, lack of resilience, stress and sleeplessness were major concerns, he said.
“Now there are emerging mental health and emotional issues, which are the direct result of the housing challenges people are facing. We are seeing all portions of society now presenting since Covid.”
Bell said the housing supply issue was not new and more houses needed to be built but he also questioned the amount of landbanking happening around the country and believed that needed to be investigated.
“In Auckland alone, there are about 20,000 ghost houses.”
He said some investors were buying properties and closing the doors because they don’t want to deal with tenants and the new government regulations.
Bell also said rents were set by the market and landlords were within their rights to charge accordingly but there was also a moral consideration in the decision.
Tauranga Budget Advisory Service manager Shirley Mccombe said rising rents were a major issue contributing to some children going without food and warm clothing, sleeping in cars and not attending school.
Debt was another problem, with clients’ total debt jumping from $36.9 million in August to $45.6m last month, with more wage earners struggling.
A spokeswoman for Minister of Housing and Urban Development Megan Woods said Census 2018 data showing 200,000 empty homes nationwide, — 39,000 in the greater Auckland area — was likely to be overstated.
Baches and homes empty due to tenancy changeovers or renovations or just because the occupants were not there on census night may have been caught up.
The Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment was working with the Electricity Authority to gather more data about the proportion of homes actually unoccupied.