Social housing agency Kāinga Ora’s leased office in Moray Pl sits above a freezing concrete basement that is open to the elements -and slept in by "up to six people a night", one homeless man told the Otago Daily Times.
A Kāinga Ora employee said "this has been an ongoing issue -the homeless people come and go".
When asked, Kāinga Ora regional director Kerrie Young said she was personally unaware and "staff I’ve spoken to at our Dunedin office today" also did not know, but admitted that "some years ago" there were "rough sleepers" there.
Ms Young said she would contact the building owner so action could be taken, including connecting the homeless people to "Work and Income, who could help them get into emergency accommodation until a more long-term housing solution could be sorted".
Kāinga Ora social housing waiting lists in Dunedin were long, and there were 417 applicants on the register, nearly all with a "severe" housing need.
Kāinga Ora was planning to supply 93 more state homes in the city before next July.
Ms Young admitted Kāinga Ora was "acutely aware of the urgent need for public housing in Dunedin, and we are continually working on opportunities to boost the number of warm, dry homes for people in need".
Stop-gap emergency accommodation in the city’s motels was also in short supply.
Another homeless person has been sleeping recently at the city library, under a vehicle access ramp next to Dunedin City Council’s fleet carpark.
The ODT was tipped off that a mattress, blanket and bag of belongings had been removed by council staff from the city library site.
Council corporate and quality general manager Robert West said the removal was "for safety reasons" and after a week the belongings were "disposed of".
"Our staff are in contact most days with people sleeping rough around civic buildings, and we try wherever possible to help by connecting them to the most suitable agencies, including Ministry of Social Development," Mr West said.
"We do not remove their bedding or other personal effects, unless for safety reasons."
City councillors were updated yesterday on the council’s plan to tackle homelessness within its broader housing action plan.
Council principal housing policy adviser Gill Brown told the meeting estimates of Dunedin’s homeless ranged from 1500 people to 3000 and included people in "mental distress" and with "experience of trauma".
The plan aims to link government and charity agencies to achieve outcomes for homeless people -and concurrently identify and seek to address gaps in service provision.
Mr West, who was at the meeting, said the council’s plan was under way before the ODT began highlighting the issue but it was "great that there is more public awareness" now.
Dunedin Night Shelter Trust chairwoman Clare Curran said the shelter had recently been turning away people due to it being full and was "neither a short-term nor medium-term solution" to a city shortage of emergency accommodation and social housing.
It was becoming "increasingly difficult" to help people find somewhere to go after their time at the shelter.
"It’s critical there are safe pathways for vulnerable people into secure housing", including "more social housing options in Dunedin," Ms Curran said.
"Leadership is required to achieve this."
