A "strategic punch" is needed to build more affordable social housing to end the city’s homelessness crisis, say city councillors and charities.
More than one in a hundred Dunedin residents are estimated to be homeless — 1500 out of about 135,000 residents. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Development has said it could be more than double.
The problem is not lack of space. More medium-density housing is now allowed in the city and a recent council assessment of development opportunities found capacity for more than 5000 new homes.
The sticking point is lack of a plan and funding for the Dunedin City Council’s vision of a "home for everyone", community leaders say. More than a decade of council-led strategising, and growing concerns, has not led to homes urgently needed for the city’s poorest and homeless.
It is the mayor’s job to show leadership in solving the crisis, Cr Marie Laufiso says. However, she adds "I just think he’s not in the slightest bit interested or possibly doesn’t know how. He doesn’t seem to have much imagination so is all about austerity and rolling back the socially progressive advances made by past mayors."
The shot across the bows has been challenged by Mayor Jules Radich, who calls it "regrettable". Council staff are working on a multi-agency approach to end homelessness that "few other councils in New Zealand are attempting".
The council has appointed a housing policy adviser — Gill Brown — earlier this year. Ms Brown has set up an informal group of concerned agencies, including Kāinga Ora, Te Whatu Ora, the Ministry of Social Development, child agency Oranga Tamariki as well as city charities including the night shelter.
The group has said it wants to achieve "functional zero" — when people become homeless, it is brief because the system kicks in fast to get them housed.
Mr Radich points to the council’s provision of some homes, mainly tenanted by older people. This is filling one gap in the city’s housing stock, he says, but admits "what we need now is for all parties to work together to fill the other gaps."
"As much as council’s budgets are under pressure, I know there are many people in Dunedin doing it far tougher."
There are a cocktail of factors behind Dunedin’s homelessness crisis, including population growth — more than a thousand a year since 2018. The council expects similar growth for the next four years at least.
There is also competition for affordable tenancies. The average weekly rent for a home has shot up from $300 in 2018 to $475 now, according to Tenancy Services data. Landlords can be choosy. Homeless people with challenging needs and backgrounds — such as time in prison — have told the ODT they can’t get a private rental. Tenants with financial problems or challenges living independently can teeter on the brink of homelessness and sometimes fall.
Homeless people face scant and precarious options. These include living in cars, vans, tents, doorways, couch-surfing, or being crammed into substandard boarding houses with no on-site support services. For some, prison or hospital is home for a time, sometimes repeatedly.
Little else is on offer. The night shelter is usually for a maximum five nights. A few moteliers provide emergency stays, funded by the Ministry of Social Development — but many do not, and availability reduces during large-draw city events. There are a few higher-standard boarding houses. Only people who meet certain entry criteria gain access to a limited stock of charity-run accommodation.
Cr Sophie Barker welcomes the goal of functional zero, and applauds the council’s provision of housing. However, she says the Otago Daily Times investigation into homelessness has "peeled back the bandage to reveal the depths of what we are dealing with".
"What is the goal and what resources are needed? We then need to be advocating politically in Wellington to get funding. This is what we haven’t been good at in the past."
Cr Laufiso is "highly sceptical" that the new government’s ambition in its 100-day plan — to start more house building — will start to succeed in Dunedin without a specific focus on state-funded housing. She has been around the block and back on the issue, having sat on a 2018-19 Mayor’s Taskforce for Housing (MTFH), run by former mayor Aaron Hawkins, that called for urgent action to achieve more affordable housing.
The MTFH reported in 2019 and said 650 more social homes were needed. A council report by staff at the same time said that it had been predicted in 2013 that 1000 more one and two-bedroom social housing units would be needed by 2031.
Even longer ago, a 2010 council housing strategy envisaged access to housing for everyone but clanged a warning bell — a "shortfall" in emergency accommodation and "few suitable options for transients". A public consultation had stressed the strategy must not be light on implementation and the council must give "life" to it. The strategy promised to project housing demand and set up a network of social housing providers.
However, by 2018, population projections had shot up — to more than five times a slow rate indicated in the 2010 housing strategy — and the MTFH was set up. As well as Mr Hawkins and Cr Laufiso, it had similar membership to Ms Brown’s new group — government agencies, charities and even a real estate agent. It produced a 25-page 20-year plan that sought an end to homelessness — and a start to council leadership to help "central government ... encourage and incentivise a new supply of affordable homes".
Only new homes — about 750 a year — would "meet the needs evident". Not-for-profits would be best-positioned to build new social housing, the plan said. The council would assess landholdings for development by the not-for-profits. Excess income from rents would fund more homes.
The MTFH called for a "detailed work programme by September 2019". The situation was urgent — then there was a pandemic.
"It was a tricky three years for lobbying," Mr Hawkins says.
"The government, I think rightly, were investing so heavily in simply keeping the country afloat."
He is no longer mayor, but continues to care about housing — he is chair of the Cosy Homes Trust, a charity working for warm and healthy homes.
Mr Hawkins says a priority for the council when he was mayor was seeking access to the government’s income-related rent subsidy (IRRS), which is available to social housing landlords in the charity sector, but still not to councils. The subsidy helps a sustainable business model — landlords can budget more easily for repairs and more homes.
Mr Hawkins asks: "Should the government be subsidising private landlords but not public ones? That’s the current situation, and changing that would mean the council could continue to operate that service [provision of its council homes] in a far more sustainable way."
It appears there is a political question mark about who should have the financial green light to deliver an expansion of social housing in Dunedin. Regardless, Mr Hawkins says the city’s primary need remains "to build more houses, particularly for people at the pointy end of need. Housing has never been adequate, not for decades, and needs to be the focus of government and its agencies and advocacy."
"I don’t care so much what the model is called, it needs to give more rooms. Homelessness should not be inescapable."
The council seems to be sticking with its role as a provider, despite lack of IRRS access. It has broadened the criteria for entry to its social homes to include people below the age of 55, with priority given to those with accessibility needs. However, the combined stock owned by the council and Kāinga Ora has reduced by 89, with nearly two thirds of the reduction a shift of homes from council ownership to the charity PACT.
PACT is one of a handful of charities providing a small stock of accommodation for people whose specific needs match charity services funded, for example some disability services.
Last year, the council scrapped the MTFH 20-year plan — and replaced it with a short action plan and an even shorter — two page — implementation plan that ends next June. It says that "decent housing is a human right" and it will "get the job done". It promises to advocate for funding from central government where it can, and look at "all possible land and buildings" to seek housing opportunities.
Cr Barker says: "The new plan is too high level and simplistic.
here must be a pathway to what we need. What happened to the more detailed task force plan?"
An update to the council about the work of Ms Brown’s group this September explained functional zero and indicated an intention to adopt a software system that could record data on homeless people and outcomes for them. The approach would help identify support gaps and "inform a plan on how as a city we can work towards reducing homelessness in a co-ordinated and cross-agency manner".
Ms Brown will report again to the council in March 2024. There is also an ambition to make her group a more formal body, with a steering group and councillor involvement again.
Charity leaders agree the confronting housing crisis requires a leadership mandate right now.
Dunedin’s Methodist Mission chief executive Laura Black says the "strategic punch" required to get the job done would be welcomed.
"If the council is going for the goal of functional zero then we wait with some anticipation to see how they get on."
Solving homelessness is "really easy conceptually — provide housing and social support necessary to stabilise people in that housing. Prevention and early intervention is cheaper than helping people at the bottom of a cliff, and morally of course is far more preferable than human wreckage."
Ms Black says a challenge is getting agencies to see the whole puzzle and not their tiny jigsaw piece of the agenda. "Anybody who is going to provide leadership in this space needs to have the mandate that only local authorities can bring to the party."
One government-funded, charity-led project is Housing First. It is aimed at housing homeless people with chronic needs, then providing them with additional support services. It is being delivered in many cities. No charity is funded to deliver it in Dunedin.
Another project, in Auckland, is HomeGround, a $110m brand-new building run by Auckland City Mission, providing 80 self-contained apartments for long-term stays, with on-site health and social care. The mission also provides a community outreach team that helps people get off the street.
A Dunedin council spokesperson said solutions such as HomeGround were led by charities and did not involve councils. However, Auckland Council is a HomeGround funding partner, giving at least $5m towards its costs — and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development has pledged a whopping $96.4m over 25 years.
The Dunedin council says it provides funding for social agencies. It has given $13,000 to the night shelter this year. However, the shelter is scrambling to raise $510,000 at present just to increase its bed numbers to 12.
Former Dunedin South MP and outgoing night shelter chair Clare Curran adds her voice to the cries for political leadership as only this will "enable real headway" by the council to partner with central government and its agencies to get funds, she says.
Night shelter manager David McKenzie, who sat on the MTFH in 2019, says the South has been ignored. "The government has centralised things and no funding has come down here at all. There are louder voices and bigger homeless numbers in Auckland and Rotorua — we get forgotten."
The calls for leadership, and the setting up of a council-led strategic group under Ms Brown, feels "like groundhog day", he says. "Meanwhile, we have been watching a developing situation of the city not building adequate social housing for the folks hardest to house".
Real estate agency Nidd Realty team mentor Liz Nidd also sat on the 2019 MTFH and welcomes Ms Brown’s recent work — but expresses deflation. "There were a lot of meetings, and then a hiatus. If not getting anywhere, do we keep doing the same thing? There is a need to get things moving — it comes down to money."
Social service charity PACT delivers some of the city’s charity-run housing. Its chief executive, Paul Chamberlain, says provision of social housing by entities other than the government is a challenge that requires significant capital to achieve the required scale to operate efficiently and effectively.
However, he adds that the establishment of the Otautahi Community Housing Trust in Christchurch "might be a model that could also be applied to Dunedin".
Since 2016, the Christchurch City Council has leased its social housing portfolio to the trust, which now delivers 2500 homes including additional homes it is building itself. As a charity, the trust is able to claim IRRS — and its accounts show a healthy surplus.
Solution-focused partnerships involving the private sector are also possible. In Dunedin, the Salvation Army is working with Dunedin property developer Russell Lund. The historic New Zealand Loan and Mercantile building — which Mr Lund has owned for 23 years — is being converted to provide 30 social housing apartments, 28 of which are one-bedroom. It plans to open next year.
Mr Lund agrees with Mr Chamberlain that it is "incredibly difficult" for private investors and charities to build social housing, particularly medium-density housing in the centre of a city.
"It is not for the faint-hearted, let’s put it like that".
When courage is needed, leadership is essential. A council spokesperson says the council is "still considering what formal body and oversight structure might be required" to ensure Ms Brown’s group has the "mandate and resources to succeed".
Social homes in Dunedin
The ratios of rental properties versus homeowner properties across the city sheds light on the importance of affordable rentals. In south Dunedin, one of the poorest areas in New Zealand, four in 10 homes were rented, according to the 2018 census, compared with three in 10 across the city’s 48,627 homes.
Social housing is a small proportion of the city’s rental housing stock. In London, in the UK, one in five homes are social housing. Even in south Dunedin, the 2018 census recorded less than half this level — fewer than one in 10. This was mostly council-owned homes. Only one in 50 south Dunedin homes was owned by Kāinga Ora, and under one in 100 were owned by charities. Across Dunedin, about one in 20 homes are social housing.
Waiting lists tell a story of need. The waiting list for council-owned homes has nearly doubled since 2010, from 140 to 225. The waiting list for Kāinga Ora homes has tripled since 2010, from 150 to 432 households, with 663 bedrooms needed. Nearly all households waiting are considered at risk.
The council says there could be overlap between the waiting lists. However, homeless people with major life challenges routinely tell the ODT they are not sure they on any list.
The demand is not being met by significant growth in housing stock.
Council home stock
A 2010 council housing strategy says there were 996 council homes provided in 2010 — there are now 940, 56 fewer. The council says six units have shifted to Kāinga Ora ownership and 54 to the charity PACT, so the housing is still in use, but for different purposes.
Council housing is social housing for people aged 55 or older primarily, while PACT provides a variety of accommodation for people with recognised support needs.
Entry criteria for the council homes has been broadened to include younger people, weighted to those needing accessible housing. Yet over the next four years, council homes will still not reach 2010 levels. There will be 965 units once a $19.2 million building programme finishes in 2027, which is building 25 new units and replacing 29 old units.
Unit replacements eat into housing budgets but are vital for occupants’ health. A recent replacement of 10 one-bedroom units at 48 School St, Kaikorai has created low-energy homes, through a housing design called passive housing. It enables ventilation but requires no or little heating due to insulation. It is the first certified passive social housing in New Zealand — a sustainability win for Dunedin.
If the remaining budget is still available, 65 more new or replacement units could be created. By 2031, it seems unlikely council-owned community homes will number many more than there were 30 years ago, unless bigger budgets are found.
Kāinga Ora home stock
About 3% of Dunedin’s housing stock is Kāinga Ora housing. An old council housing strategy said there were 1502 Housing NZ homes in 2010 — there are 1469 Kāinga Ora homes now, a drop of 33 state homes in more than a decade.
Kāinga Ora has built an average of 11 homes a year for the past three years and spent nearly $32m on new builds and nearly $43m on renewals and maintenance between July 2020 to October 2023. A further 71 homes are planned by next July, and 80 existing homes will be retrofitted to improve them.
The new government says it is commissioning an independent review into Kāinga Ora practices. Housing Minister Chris Bishop says: "It is critical that Kāinga ora is focused on customers and efficiently building social houses for people in need."
The agency’s regional director Kerrie Young said Kāinga Ora was "working hard to deliver new, warm and dry public housing and upgrade some of our existing stock".
Dunedin housing
5000 capacity for new homes on available land
1469 Kainga Ora homes
432 households waiting for a Kāinga Ora home
663 bedrooms needed by people on the Kāinga Ora waiting list
940 council homes, typically small units with one or two occupants
225 households on the council home waiting list
1500 estimated homeless people (Source: community leaders)
3207 estimated homeless people (Source: Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, 2018)
Sources: Dunedin City Council, Kāinga Ora, community leaders, Ministry of Housing and Urban Development.
