Emergency housing bill skyrockets
The Government spent almost $100 million on emergency housing for the first nine months of 2019.
Figures released under the Official Information Act show the Ministry of Social Development paid out $99,007,197 in emergency housing special needs grants (EH SNG) until the end of September – a rate of $11m a month.
Even without figures for the last quarter of 2019, the spend on emergency housing was almost double the $52,415,832 spent for the whole of 2018.
MSD general manager housing service delivery Karen Hocking said that as the housing crisis continued the cost was expected to rise again in 2020.
‘‘The number of EH SNGs issued in the financial year 2019 and the average cost of the grants is tracking above budget forecast levels and we expect that trend to continue in 2020,’’ Hocking said.
‘‘This reflects the shortage of affordable housing, as well as the Government’s commitment to ensuring that those in need have somewhere warm and dry to stay.’’
In 2019, the highest amount was spent in Auckland Metro, where $42.2m was spent. A total of $26.4m was spent in the same area in 2018.
Waikato and the Bay of Plenty experienced the biggest increases where the cost more than tripled for the first nine months from $5.4m to $15.6m; and from $4.4m to $13.8m respectively, when compared with 2018. In Taranaki, the cost almost tripled from $258,477 in 2018 to $758,314 for the first nine months of 2019.
In Wellington the cost jumped from $4.6m in 2018 to $8.4m for the first nine months of 2019, and in Canterbury the increase was from $1.4m to $2.6m.
Hocking said the grants were available to people who could not remain in their usual residence and did not have access to other accommodation which was adequate for them and their family’s needs.
The ministry paid the accommodation supplier directly and assistance was generally granted for up to seven nights but could be extended depending on the circumstances. Hocking said it was important to note more than 50 per cent of those accessing the grants only required up to three before they secured more suitable accommodation.