New research on homeless from Citizens Advice Bureau

Their in-depth analysis of over 2000 client enquiries about emergency accommodation shows vulnerable families, pregnant women and children living in cars and garages, even after seeking assistance from the Ministry of Social Development and Housing New Zealand. Many of these families have the highest priority on the social housing register. View the full report here.

“The worst thing is that often we are unable to find people emergency accommodation, because there is a shortage nationwide”, says Kerry Dalton, Chief Executive of Citizens Advice Bureau New Zealand. “This is very distressing for the people coming to us and for our volunteers, who cannot offer options to alleviate these desperate situations.”

“The situation does not appear to be improving, says Ms Dalton, in fact in the past 5 years this has been our fastest growing area of enquiry. In the year to the end of June 2015, CABs received over 3000 enquiries about emergency accommodation. Five years ago we had half that number. The tragedy is that, because of the shortage of emergency accommodation, in many instances CABs are not able to find suitable options for people. That’s why we are speaking out.”

Hear the Radio New Zealand interview here.