Families share rent to keep covered

A recent homelessness report shows a drop in Taranaki’s homeless population, but more low income families are cramming into unsuitable homes just to make ends meet.

The latest statistics from the Otago University report Severe housing deprivation in Aotearoa / New Zealand 2001-2013, showed Taranaki was second only to Southland for the lowest homelessness rates in New Zealand.

The region’s 2013 homelessness count was 423, five less than in 2006 but 113 more than in 2001.

But nearly half of those 423 people were in ‘‘a severely crowded’’ private dwelling - generally meaning there is more than two people to a bedroom.

Community Housing Action Taranaki chairman Brian Eriksen said overcrowding houses to save on rent has been steadily increasing throughout the region.

‘‘It’s been going on for 12 months or more,’’ he said. ’’You give yourself more money if you’re sharing rent with another family and people say if there’s a cheaper option we’ll take it.’’

Nationally, single parents with dependent children made up almost half of all New Zealanders who were severely housing deprived, at 43 per cent of the 40,658 Kiwis affected.

A lot of families didn’t register with Housing New Zealand (HNZ) anymore because if they’re desperate, they don’t want to be the last in line in a very slow process, he said.

And HNZ criteria now required families to be financially desperate or ‘‘hopeless’’ in order to qualify for housing, he said.

‘‘If you’re a family with a low income but still struggling with rent it doesn’t include you.’’

He said Taranaki’s homelessness numbers were low, largely because the region ‘‘looked after its own’’, but that wasn’t to say the full number of homeless people were represented in the study. The report said the rise of people crowding into dwellings was a major contributor to the increase in severe housing deprivation overall.

The New Plymouth district dhad 282 people classed as severely housing deprived - 153 of those people were living in an overcrowded home.

South Taranaki District was next on 108 people, with 75 people living in severely overcrowded dwellings. The Stratford District had 39 people classified as severely housing deprived with 15 people living in a severely crowded permanent private dwelling.

Auckland reported the highest homelessness numbers with 20,296 people in need in 2013, whereas Southland posted just 311 who were severely housing deprived.