'Many' link Govt's emergency housing policy to homelessness rise - minister

Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka has acknowledged reports of rising homelessness but says it's "not down just to one thing" as he defends the Government's tougher rules for emergency housing.

Potaka was grilled on the issue during a Q+A interview, where he conceded the changes to increase scrutiny for emergency housing support applicants have been "reported by many" as contributing to making more people homeless.

When asked directly whether the policy changes had contributed to leaving more people homeless, the minister said: "That's a very strong view that many people have."

But Potaka refused to make that connection himself, instead consistently attributing claims of a link to "anecdotal" reports and what others had reported.

"There's a range of factors that influence [homelessness], and the changes to the emergency housing policy have been reported by many people as being a contributor."

He confirmed he received an updated briefing on homelessness from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, which found rough sleeping had increased "in some areas". But Potaka insisted the regional rises may be down to a range of factors.

The associate minister said the latest insights briefing he had received showed "there's a whole range of potential causes, including that, but a whole range of other things," such as mental health, addiction, cost of living, and other physical health issues.

"It does recognise, throughout the country, there are community housing providers [and] councils who are saying, hey, there's a big, big challenge with homelessness," he said.

Some providers had described the emergency housing policy as "very, very harsh," according to Potaka.

"They report that the emergency housing policy is very, very harsh. That's what some of the anecdotal reports are saying," he said.

The associate minister said he would release the homelessness insights report "soon," but did not provide a specific timeframe. Potaka maintained there were multiple factors behind rising homelessness: "What they're saying is we've got a whole range of causes."

Labour has been pressuring Potaka over the report this week, with spokesperson Kieran McAnulty saying he was "not surprised he’s pretty reluctant to release the report."

“Everyone is saying that homelessness is going up at unprecedented levels,” he told Stuff.

“Given that he is the only one — alongside the prime minister and the minister of housing — that is denying homelessness is going up, I’m not surprised he’s reluctant to release the report.”

Potaka defended the policy changes, saying the Government had met its target to reduce emergency housing numbers by 75%.

"We set up a target. That target was to reduce the number of whānau and households living in emergency housing. We've reached the target, but we've also recognised there are still some challenges and some issues," he said.

The associate minister said tracking of people leaving emergency housing had improved, with the Government now knowing where "85-86%" of people went.

"When we came into administration, the teams knew where around 50% of people were going. Now we know where there is about 85-86% of where people are going, in my view, that's actually good progress," he said.

But, when pressed about whether more people were on the streets as an unintended consequence, Potaka acknowledged: "Those are the things that we have acknowledged that there are some challenges, and we are responding to those with agility."

More to come. For the full story and interview, watch the video above

Q+A with Jack Tame is made with the support of New Zealand On Air