Seventy-two more people were living in emergency housing motels in March compared with January, latest figures show.

Government figures for March also show there are six more households compared with February, equating to 27 more people living in non-contracted emergency housing motels — 12 more adults and 15 more children.

The figures for February show there were 27 more households compared with January, equating to 45 more people in both non-contracted and contracted emergency housing motels compared with January — nine more children and 36 more adults.

When taking into account those living in Covid-19 response motels and a transitional housing motel, that meant there had been an overall increase from 723 people in January to 795 people in March.

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Development publishes monthly figures as part of the Rotorua Housing Accord signed late last year by the Government, Rotorua Lakes Council and iwi representatives.

There have been two months of slight increases, but overall the numbers are well down on what they were during peak periods at the start of last year.

In March this year, 381 households were in temporary emergency housing motels, compared with 708 households in March last year. The figures for the number of people in the 708 households equated to are not part of the published information.

The overall number of non-contracted emergency housing motels being used had reduced in March this year compared with the previous month, dropping from 16 in February to 14 in March. There remain 13 contracted emergency housing motels, two Covid-19 response motels and one transitional housing motel.

There were 62 non-contracted motels being used alone during peak periods at the start of last year.

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Development has resource consent to run the 13 contracted emergency housing motels designed for families and offered social services help.

However, people could still seek emergency housing help through the Ministry of Social Development to stay temporarily in non-contracted motels.

Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell. Photo / Andrew Warner

Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell said the reduction of emergency housing in Rotorua was progressing positively and it was good the total number of motels being used had dropped.

“Over time, numbers of motels will change but the main thing is that we’re seeing a downward trend overall.”

“Rotorua is in a significantly better position now and feedback from our community who have seen the improvements has been good. We now have a positive way forward for our community and those in need.”

She said the council would keep working hard to reach its goal of progressively reducing the use of motels for emergency housing in Rotorua to near zero.

“As well as addressing emergency housing we have also not lost sight of the overall need for more affordable, healthy homes.”

Ministry of Social Development Bay of Plenty regional commissioner Mike Bryant. Photo / Andrew Warner

The Rotorua Daily Post asked Ministry of Social Development regional commissioner Mike Bryant if there were any reason for the increase in the number of people in non-contracted emergency housing motels in March.

In response, he said the ministry’s focus remained on supporting whānau in housing distress and ensuring they received the support they needed to access suitable housing.

He said while there had been a slight increase in the number of households in emergency accommodation in Rotorua since January, the overall trend for the last 12 months still showed a decline.

When looking at the figures for non-contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua, Bryant said in March 2022 there were 363 households in those motels. The figure for March 2023 is 147, which represents a 60 per cent decline.

“There has been a lot of hard work behind the scenes supporting families to move out of emergency housing by securing private rentals, transitional housing, contracted emergency housing, or public housing. We are excited by the progress that has been made.”

Bryant said the ministry expected the need for emergency housing to remain until the housing crisis was resolved.

“We will continue to work with our partners Kāinga Ora, Te Tūāpapa Kura Kāinga (MHUD) and Te Pokapū.”