MINISTRY OF SOCIAL
DEVELOPMENT
TE MANATU WHAKAHIATO ORA
Andrew Price
[email address]. nz
Tena koe Andrew Price
On 13 September 2021 you emailed the Ministry of Social Development (the Ministry)
requesting, under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act), the following
information:
• Please provide the most recent data for both questions asked in this request,
meaning the quarter end June 2021.
For reference the below were your questions from your previous request under the
Act:
• Please provide the number of clients currently on the waiting list for Social
Housing in the Porirua District.
• Please also provide the current number of clients in emergency housing in the
same area.
The Public Housing Register (the Register) consists of the Housing Register and the
Transfer Register. The Housing Register records those who are not currently in Public
Housing but who have been assessed as eligible for Public Housing. The Transfer
Register represents those already in Public Housing who are eligible to be rehoused,
generally due to a change in circumstances prompting a move to somewhere more
appropriate to their needs.
These registers are dynamic rather than static, and it changes as people's
circumstances and situations change. Placing people and families into houses is about
matching them with the right house in the area they want to live. This includes
ensuring the family has the right number of bedrooms, is close to essential services
such as schools, and that the accommodation meets any disability needs if appropriate.
Those assessed as having the greater need for housing will be prioritised higher. As
people's needs change, their priority on the Register may change also. As such, the
length of time spent on the Register awaiting housing can vary significantly.
Further information regarding the assessment of a client's housing need, housing need
priority ratings and the calculation of overall priority ratings can be found on the Work
and Income website at the following link: www.workandincome.govt.nz/map/social
housi nq/assessment-of-el iqi bility/assessm ent-of-housing-need-01. htm I.
Nationally there is an issue of housing demand exceeding supply. More housing is
needed to support the most vulnerable people in our community and the Government,
through a number of agencies, is working to increase the amount of Public Housing.
More information about Public Housing is contained in the Ministry of Housing and
Urban Development's quarterly reports which can be found at the following link:
www.hud.govt.nz/news-and-resources/statistics-and-research/oublic-housinq
reoorts/.
The Emergency Housing Special Needs Grant (EH SNG) is available to people who
cannot remain in their usual place of residence, if any, and do not have access to other
accommodation which is adequate for them or their family's need. Assistance is
generally granted for up to seven nights but can be extended, dependent on individual
circumstances.
After these seven nights, the Ministry will arrange another appointment with the client
to discuss their housing situation, and to determine if another grant is required. The
Ministry works hard to support people receiving EH SNGs to secure a long-term housing
solution, either through public housing or private rental accommodation.
The Ministry recognises that emergency housing is not a long-term solution, however,
a short-term solution for people who are potentially in a vulnerable situation. More
information about EH SNGs is available on the Ministry's website at the following link:
www.workandincome.qovt.nz/housinq/nowhere-to-stay/index. htm I.
Table One below provides the total number of applicants on the Register for the
Porirua City Territorial Local Authority as at the end of the most recent quarter, June
2021.
Table One: Number of applicants on the Public Housing register for the
Porirua City Territorial Local Authority as at the end of June 2021.
As at end of
Total number of applicants
June 2021
507
Notes for Table One:
•
Territorial Local Authority (TLA) is based on the client's address as at the time of the grant and
may not be reflective of where their emergency housing is located.
•
This only includes priority A and B applications.
•
This includes applications both on the Housing Register and the Transfer Register.
•
To protect confidentiality, the Ministry of Social Development uses processes to make it difficult to
identify an individual person or entity from published data. These data tables have had random
rounding to base three applied to all cell counts in the table. A value of one or two may be rounded
to zero or three. The impact of applying random rounding is that columns and rows may not add
exactly to the given column or row totals. The published counts will never
differ by more than two
counts.
Table Two below provides data regarding EH SNG, broken down by the number of
distinct clients, the amount granted and the number of grants for the Porirua Territorial
Local Authority for the quarter ending June 2021.
Table Two: EH SNG data, broken down by the number of distinct clients, the
amount granted and the number of grants for the Porirua Territorial Local
Authority for the quarter ending June 2021.
Quarter ending
Distinct clients
Amount granted
Number of grants
June 2021
129
$1,318 112.42
351
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Notes for Table Two:
•
Emergency Housing assistance payments are granted as Special Needs Grants.
•
This is the amount granted. The total amount granted may not be the same as the amount spent.
•
This is a count of grants. A client can have more than one grant in the time period.
•
Territorial Local Authority (TLA) is based on the clients address as at the time of the grant and may
not be reflective of where their emergency housing is located.
•
To protect confidentiality, the Ministry of Social Development uses processes to make it difficult to
identify an individual person or entity from published data. These data tables have had random
rounding to base three applied to all cell counts in the table. A value of one or two may be rounded
to zero or three. The impact of applying random rounding is that columns and rows may not add
exactly to the given column or row totals. The published counts will never differ by more than two
counts
The principles and purposes of the Official Information Act 1982 under which you made
your request are:
• to create greater openness and transparency about the plans, work and
activities of the Government,
• to increase the ability of the public to participate in the making and
administration of our laws and policies and
• to lead to greater accountability in the conduct of public affairs.
This Ministry fully supports those principles and purposes. The Ministry therefore
intends to make the information contained in this letter and any attached documents
available to the wider public. The Ministry will do this by publishing this letter on the
Ministry of Social Development's website. Your personal details will be deleted, and
the Ministry will not publish any information that would identify you as the person who
requested the information.
If you wish to discuss this response regarding housing in Porirua with us, please feel
free to contact OIA [email address].
Nga mihi nui
Karen Hocking
General Manager
Housing
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