A housing shortage in Tauranga is preventing vulnerable people from finding homes and costing nearly $1 million is emergency housing grants every three months.

In the quarter ending 30 June 2019 the Ministry of Social Development approved 860 emergency housing special needs grants worth more than $1,000,000 in Tauranga.

Accessible Properties Tauranga General Manager, Vicki McLaren says Tauranga has 2.5 percent of social housing in terms of total housing stock compared to the national average of four percent.

Accessible Properties is New Zealand's largest non-government registered and accredited community housing provider.

Vicki says that ideally the national average for social housing should be at nine percent.

'We're well below half of what we should have nationally and then we're half again in Tauranga.

'We know that we've got a growing homeless population and most people think that's not a good thing and it's not but it's the impact that has on everyone, the more inequality you have the more social problems you have and we're seeing some of that starting to play out.”

The People's Project Tauranga service manager Simone Cuers says a lack of public housing and affordable private rental properties is a problem for everyone in Tauranga regardless of background and situation.

'It's really tough, particularly for those people in our community who are most vulnerable, such as those experiencing unsheltered homelessness.”

The People's Project is funded by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development to deliver housing first services in Tauranga and Hamilton.

Simone says Demographia reports annually that Tauranga has some of the least affordable housing in New Zealand, relative to income.

'The impact of unaffordable housing in our communities is that it is increasingly hard to get ahead.

'More and more people struggle to afford housing costs, and require support to live in a private rental property.

'Once private rental housing becomes unaffordable, people need adequate social housing.”

She says because there has been very little progress in addressing the housing shortage in the area for a number of years Tauranga now has significantly less social housing than the national average and subsequently a long waiting list for housing.

Both Simone and Vicki agree that clear leadership is needed to deliver a plan to ensure more housing is available.

Vicki says the lack of housing is a multifaceted problem but not enough is being done to combat the issue.

'It's a complex situation and in some ways the answer is simple we need a clear strategy.

'We need a national strategy and then we need to drill down to regional strategies because every region is different and we need to respond to regional needs.

'We need a strategy but most of all we need leadership and we need someone to champion it.”

She says there needs to be a strategy at both a national and local government level so there is a coordinated response.

The amount of social housing needs to increase but there also needs to be a plan to ensure balanced communities are created, Vicki says.

'If we had concentrated social housing, we are not going to be leaving the kind of legacy we want to be leaving as a city.

'We need to be thinking about how we house people in a way that's going to support them and encourage them to function well as a part of a community.”

Ministry of Housing and Urban Development figures show there are 2705 public houses in the Bay of Plenty.

For the quarter ending March 2019 there are 281 applicants in Tauranga on the housing register waiting for suitable public housing to become available and 59 in the Western Bay of Plenty.

Simone says the People's Project currently have 39 people requiring housing and they would all move into a place of their own tomorrow, if the appropriate, affordable housing was available for them.

'There are multiple agencies and organisations working together across Tauranga trying to address the issue, however leadership to deliver a coordinated and funded plan will be absolutely essential in order to deliver hundreds more social and affordable properties across the city in the coming years.”

In August the government announced $54 million in funding for initiatives which will support at-risk individuals and whānau to stay in their existing tenancies.

Associate minister of housing, Kris Faafoi says 'These initiatives are part of this Government's pledge to end homelessness and improve the wellbeing of New Zealanders and their whānau through safe, warm, dry homes.

'As part of our work on homelessness we are expanding the Sustaining Tenancies programme. It ensures that tenants who may be at-risk of losing their tenancy receive practical support to help them get back on track.

'That support includes budget advice, property maintenance, and mental health and addiction support, with the goal of helping people remain in their existing homes.”

Simone says, the government are keen to invest in high quality, place-based initiatives, now is a great time for our new council and elected members to step up and drive better outcomes for our communities, which will attract the central government investment that the city deserves.

Tauranga City Council city and infrastructure planning manager, Andrew Mead says Tauranga is facing significant short term, and medium term housing supply issues.

'Over the next three years we project that 4000 additional houses are required to accommodate population growth however given current supply, only 3000 can be delivered.

'This leaves a shortfall of 1000 houses in the next three years, which is anticipated to grow by nearly 5000 more dwellings, 6000 total, within 10 years if more supply is not enabled.”

Andrew says, council is working to address these issues however some of the solutions are beyond their control, such as central government transport investment issues and Māori Land Court processes.

The city continues to grow along the coastal strip, with Wairakei and the rest of Pāpāmoa offering capacity for over 4650 dwellings over the next ten years, he says.

'In the west of the city The Lakes has potential for up to 1000 new dwellings, dependent on future density outcomes.”

Andrew confirmed that social housing stock in Tauranga is below the national average and as a result there is an ongoing and growing need for emergency, social and transitional housing.

'We continue to advocate and seek to support central government in improving the quality and quantity of social housing within Tauranga.”

He says council does not build social or public housing as this is a primary responsibility of central government, but they assist the agencies responsible for social and public housing.

'We support them in identifying development opportunities to develop new social housing stock or redevelop existing stock.

'Working closely with these agencies is vitally important to help deliver more social housing and improve outcomes for our community.”