Meanwhile, efforts to target the issue with a new approach have come up empty handed, a community board chairperson says.
The Te Anau Basin development plan was released last month with a goal of helping the Fiordland Community Board make future decisions.
It covered a range of topics, including the local economy, population trends and housing.
Regarding the latter, issues were highlighted around a lack of affordable housing in Te Anau as well as an increasing need for elderly accommodation.
Although there was a steady stream of houses being built, that number was not an accurate representation of availability, because of the amount which were holiday homes or short-term rentals.
This increased the need for social housing, which was also exacerbated by the cost of land and building.
Fiordland Community Board chairwoman Diane Holmes said accommodation issues had been on the town’s radar for decades.
Feedback from social workers indicated some families were doing it tough without appropriate housing, but central government had pared back support.
"We’ve reached out to a lot of other agencies and tried multi-agency approaches and might as well just be banging our head against a brick wall."
She was optimistic about the report as a whole, saying it highlighted Te Anau was well placed for both residential and commercial building moving forward.
The Luxmore subdivision — undertaken in 2022 — allowed for more intensive building with up to three dwellings on a single section, she said.
The report showed an essential industry in the area, tourism, was also contributing to the housing challenge.
Short-term rentals were important for visitor accommodation which supported the sector but also had implications for long-term housing.
Community engagement was a key factor in formulating the development plan, with the end product noting people had discussed a wide range of topics.
That included increased density, vulnerability to natural disasters and the location of the school in the town centre.
— Matthew Rosenberg, Local Democracy Reporter
— LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
