The woman and her children had been living in a one-room sleepout at the back of a friend’s house and desperately seeking alternative accommodation, Alexandra Council of Social Services (Acoss) chairwoman Deirdre Jolly said.
The woman had been told the three-bedroom Housing New Zealand Alexandra home was vacant, but that she did not qualify for it as she had too many children, Mrs Jolly said.
"This home would have been more than adequate for this family. To have finally found what the agencies all concerned to be a suitable place for the family, only to discover that bureaucratic restrictions were imposed outside our control, seems unreasonable."
A private home was found through Acoss contacts for the family on Wednesday. But Mrs Jolly said Acoss members were still angry about the case, and worried similar situations might happen again.
Acoss wrote to Social Housing Minister Amy Adams last week about the case and Acoss members’ broader concerns about what they said was a lack of social housing in Central Otago.
In the letter, Mrs Jolly said Acoss was "extremely concerned" about "the housing situation developing in Central Otago. As a group of social service, education, health and community agencies we work with a wide range of families, as housing is increasingly becoming the number one issue".
The Otago Daily Times reported similar concerns in March, when social service agencies said the rental accommodation shortage in Cromwell was approaching crisis levels, a trend of "bidding wars" was emerging and some families were living in caravans, tents, garages and camping grounds.
At the time, two three-bedroom Housing New Zealand houses in Cromwell were vacant, and a Housing New Zealand spokesman said there was "consistently low demand" for social housing in Central Otago.
The Otago Daily Times asked Ms Adams if she thought there was a lack of social housing in Central Otago, if the Government planned to create more social housing in the region and how Central Otago’s need compared with other regions.
She did not answer the questions directly, instead saying: "National is committed to helping vulnerable New Zealanders who need help with housing. That’s why we spend around $2billion per year on housing and accommodation support. This is a record investment in social and emergency accommodation, and we’re taking action that no other Government has to tackle homelessness. It’s a complex issue but National is focused on addressing it".
Mrs Adams said she could not comment on individual cases such as the case of the Alexandra woman with five children living in a sleepout.
Ministry of Social Development general manager housing strategy, planning and organisation, Hayley Hamilton, said she also could not discuss the case, but said it was "possible" the woman would not have been offered the property "as that property may not have had the number of bedrooms they required or other specific requirements . . . we do not want to see people placed in over-crowded or otherwise inappropriate housing".
She said the demand for social housing in Central Otago had remained at about six since June 2014, which "suggests that the number of social housing places . . . closely matches demand".
A Housing New Zealand spokesman said there were 20 social housing properties in Central Otago: 10 in Cromwell, seven in Alexandra, two in Clyde and one in Roxburgh. One of the Clyde properties was untenanted, as it was more than 100 years old and might be sold, as it was no longer suitable for social housing.
Two of the Cromwell homes were also vacant.
