Government pledges $107 million to house rough sleepers during and after pandemic

April 26, 2020

Those who've moved say they're glad to have a roof over their heads, but worried about what will happen once the dust settles.

The Government is pledging an additional $107.6 million to house homeless people through the Covid-19 pandemic and beyond.

Housing Minister Megan Woods said the $107.6 million will fund 1600 motel units. Of that, $31 million will be put towards wrap-around services for people’s needs.

“As of this weekend, 876 units have vulnerable individuals and whānau living in them and they are being supported with social services,” she said.

Since the introduction of Covid-19 Alert Levels, over 1000 additional motel units have been secured by government agencies, community housing, iwi and Māori providers.

Ms Woods said the additional funding would help people stay housed while the Government was working on increasing long-term housing supply. The Government announced a $300 million Homelessness Action Plan in February which planned to increase public housing supply.

The Plan sought 1000 additional transitional housing places delivered by the end of the year to reduce demand on emergency motel accommodation.

Housing provider Christchurch Methodist Mission told 1 NEWS earlier this month the homeless were much more visible now.

The mission said it helped more people since the lockdown than it normally would in a year.

At that time, the Government said the total cost of securing the additional motel rooms during the pandemic was commercially sensitive and would not say how much taxpayer money was being spent.

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