Rent charge for motel stays

The Government is defending its decision to charge rent to those staying in motels as emergency housing.

It announced yesterday, as part of a $300 million homelessness package, that those who stayed in motels as a form of emergency housing longer than seven days would now be charged rent equivalent to 25 per cent of their income – the same amount charged for those in public and transition housing.

When motel stays were first introduced as an emergency measure to deal with the ballooning public housing waitlist under the last Government some tenants were charged for the full cost but it was later made free.

The package itself is focused on reducing the number of motel stays necessary, which have doubled since late 2018 to a point where 3000-4000 people are staying in motels.

Auckland Action Against Poverty co-ordinator Ricardo Menendez-March said charging people in emergency accommodation 25 per cent of their income was a ‘‘step in the wrong direction’’. ‘‘The last thing we need is our homeless community needing more food grants because they cannot afford basic expenses.

‘‘So I would like to see the Government backtrack on that.’’

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said people in the sector had raised ‘‘the anomaly’’ with her that tenants in emergency motel stays did not pay but public housing and transition housing tenants did.

Transition housing is government-owned but is still intended for short-term stays, while public housing – usually known as state housing – is more long-term.

‘‘They saw it as an anomaly, they saw it was causing problems for them as they were trying to move clients into housing, so they asked us to resolve it,’’ Ardern said. She did not see this charge as a barrier to getting people off the streets. She also noted that motel-stays, which cost more than $10m a month, were not an efficient use of taxpayers’ money.

Housing Minister Megan Woods also defended the move as necessary to help move people on from motels and into other public housing.

‘‘Until today we have not had a huge push around how it is we are going to move beyond motels.

‘‘Motels should only ever be an emergency situation,’’ Woods said.

Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni said she was aware of some tenants for whom the cost difference between public housing and motel stays was a barrier for them moving on from motel stays.

‘‘Some housing providers have mentioned that in a few instances it has served as a disincentive to move to the next step – not in the vast majority,’’ Sepuloni said.

‘‘It is not a stick for tenants. It is about creating fairness and consistency across the spectrum.

‘‘No-one is going to be forced out of emergency housing if there is nowhere for them to go on to.’’

Green Party co-leader and housing spokeswoman Marama Davidson said she was comfortable with the move.

The public housing waitlist sat at 14,496 at the end of November, a record high.

‘‘Motels should only ever be an emergency situation.’’

Megan Woods Minister of Housing