Homelessness in Dunedin has once again reared its ugly head, finding a footing as many are pressed into uncomfortable situations by the climbing cost of living. It’s not only a local issue - the housing crisis has been steadily increasing nationwide, with the Human Rights Commission estimating last year that around 100,000 Kiwis were facing homelessness. A scary prospect for Dunedinites on the precipice of housing insecurity.
This isn’t a new problem. A lack of properties available for rent in 2017 saw the Government step in with a social housing boost, funding 22 additional emergency housing locations in the city over a period of three years. Then increasing rent prices coupled with decreasing property standards (picture your typical breatha flat on Castle) led to the Healthy Homes Standards becoming law in 2019. The standards aimed to “improve the quality of rental properties,” as ex-mayor Aaron Hawkins told Critic Te Ārohi. Hawkins did, however, suggest that the standards were fundamentally flawed in the way they left it up to the tenant to enforce which “hasn't worked”, though they did alleviate some of the housing qualms which arose out of the 2016/17 crisis.
Sandy Gorman, the clinical nurse leader of the Servants Health Care Centre (a service offering free healthcare for those struggling), told Critic that those standards may have paradoxically made the problem worse in the long-run. Landlords have been seen to use home improvements in line with government housing standards as an excuse to “price many low-income people out of a place to live.” To this end, she suggested that some of her patients' rental pricings had increased by 20-30% over the course of only a few short years. In the meantime, “there has not been a benefit increase to match this,” meaning that “choices about eating or heating have to be made.” Attesting to this, Gorman noted that “it is not uncommon for our patients to arrive at appointments having not eaten that day because they have no food or haven’t eaten for a couple of days.”
According to Dunedin Night Shelter manager David McKenzie, an organisation that provides emergency shelter for those in need, since Dunedin’s “[homeless] numbers don't feature well with the likes of Auckland and Rotorua… we have repeatedly missed out on government funding.” Not only has the DCC continually failed to gain an emergency housing grant from the government while cities such as Christchurch have, government funding initiatives that directly target homelessness have also often overlooked Dunedin. “[The city is] suffering from a historic lack of social housing over the past 30 years,” said McKenzie, forcing local institutions to “make do and cover up.”
McKenzie and Gorman seem to reveal a harsh truth. Decisions made on a national scale have had detrimental impacts to a Dunedin social housing market, floundering under the weight of increased rent prices and a lack of developmental opportunities for emergency and social housing within the city. Without the necessary government intervention, the DCC has needed to get creative in its approach, collaborating with smaller action-based community groups like the Dunedin Night Shelter.
The Dunedin Night Shelter, the DCC, and other institutions have been working together to reach ‘functional zero’ homelessness in Dunedin. It’s something McKenzie is “really excited about.” ‘Functional zero’ homelessness is when more individuals are leaving homelessness than there are individuals becoming homeless. To do this, the DCC said that they were focusing on “look[ing] after our most vulnerable” by creating “a joined-up approach that reduces homelessness in our city”. Still, the DCC admitted that the new approach was in its “early days,” saying that there would be “more information to share when we present our update later this year.”
Commenting on the DCC’s actions prior to this, Hawkins said it came down to “working with Kainga Ora, private developers and community housing providers to increase the social housing stock.” Kainga Ora recently bought 27 homes within Dunedin to be converted into public housing whilst simultaneously consolidating plans to further benefit communities within the city. And the recent announcement of thirty low-income apartments in the massive Lund building on the waterfront marks a significant investment in the housing crisis which has steadily heightened both locally and nationwide.
Hawkins himself is heavily involved in the housing issue as chairperson of the Cosy Homes Trust, an Otago initiative founded in 2013 which seeks to “transform lives through healthier housing.” Working with other community groups, the Cosy Homes Trust manages to provide 10-20% insulation and heating subsidies, all the while engaging in education and the development of community groups which target the same goal. Musing on the work of the trust, Hawkins stated that the group’s effectiveness was based on being “better connected” and thus “offer[ing] a more effective, citywide response.”
The ring of support for homelessness in Dunedin extends beyond dealing directly with housing, as well. Involved in this multi-faceted approach to the issue are groups such as the Presbyterian Support Otago Family Works programme, which aids in financial management. The Salvation Army also works quietly for the benefit of the city, providing food and clothing to the residents most affected by the harsh bite of cozzie livs.
So, despite the lack of substantial government support, local initiatives are finding a way to make a difference with the little resources they have. By pooling together both resources and ideas, the aim of ‘functional zero’ homelessness lies well within the city’s reach. Going but not gone… the plans for the future of housing in Dunedin optimistically suggest that a solution to the city’s homelessness crisis is near.
When all of these groups are accounted for, it becomes apparent that the Dunedin Night Shelter are not alone in their pledge to reach ‘functional zero’ homelessness within the city. Herein lies a solution. When working in unison, these groups wield an immensity of power which is able to be channelled into the eradication of homelessness within the city. But, as McKenzie summed in his talk of a solution, “It takes a bit more collaboration to get where we need to be.”
Though hope exists, the obstacles that will need to be surmounted are no joke. While each group works collectively, the DCC remains the lynchpin of success, meaning much weight still lies in the city’s current Housing Plan and the updates which are scheduled to arrive in September. Additionally, the issues of climate change and the current recession only serve to stretch the applicability of this potential solution. But hope remains. As McKenzie emphatically assured: “We are having an impact.”