Christchurch emergency housing numbers drop 83% in two years as homelessness shifts out of sight

Thursday, 30 April 2026

There are at least 200 people Christchurch Methodist Mission’s Jill Hawkey’s team can name who are living rough.

Christchurch’s emergency housing numbers have fallen to their lowest level in nearly a decade, but providers say tighter rules are pushing more people into hidden homelessness — living in cars, sheds and parks.

Data released to The Press under official information laws shows the Government achieved an 83% reduction in the number of people living in emergency housing across Greater Christchurch and Ashburton in two years - far surpassing its target of a 75% reduction by 2030.

The drop from 5430 clients (which could represent a single person or family) to 912 has saved $22 million compared to 2023’s peak of just over $25m. (Emergency housing costs an average of $196 per room per night.)

Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka previously called the reduction an achievement - saying fewer children are in “dank motel rooms” and more are in stable homes.

But frontline providers say the figures tell only part of the story.

“There are more people on the street,” Christchurch City Missioner Corrine Haines said.

“They’re not as visible as people might think because they were once in the city … in doorways … now they’re in the suburbs, they’re at the beach, they’re at Bottle Lake, they’re in the red zone.”

In 2024, the new National-led coalition government tightened emergency housing eligibility rules. That year, the number of people in emergency housing in Christchurch dropped by 43%, and then a further 71% in 2025.

Karen Hocking, the Ministry of Social Development’s enablement general manager, said a third of emergency housing grants are being declined, with more than 70% of those people referred to transitional housing or supported to stay in a private rental. In early 2023, under the previous government, the rejection rate was 2.9%.

But providers say the alternatives are often short-term, unaffordable or simply unavailable.

Hawkey says fewer people in emergency housing is not a good news story when she knows people are in need. (File photo)

Christchurch Methodist Mission’s Jill Hawkey said her team knows of at least 200 people living in parks, sheds or other unsuitable places.

“It’s not a good news story at all because we know why the numbers have decreased … people aren’t able to access that service any longer.”

While she thought it was fair for the Government to ask people if they had friends or family to stay with - according to the Work and Income website, this is asked in the first instance - but expecting that to happen for weeks or months strained relationships, and there were people who had “burnt bridges”.

Associate Minister of Housing Tama Potaka says thousands of children have been able to get out of motel rooms with the government’s help. (File photo)

Emergency housing had the benefit of keeping people connected with other services, she said. The Methodist Mission’s outreach team frequently met people who mistakenly thought they were on the waitlist for state housing.

“We came across one elderly gentleman who had not even been receiving his superannuation for the last 12 years. He’d been surviving by going to different soup kitchens or community lunches.”

“The average rental in Papanui now is $520 a week … if you’re reliant on your superannuation and you get close to $500 a week, there is no way that you can afford a private rental.”

The Christchurch City Mission has about 18 emergency beds at its men’s shelter and 10 at its women’s shelter, but Haines said they are not a long-term solution.

“It’s really tough for our people to have to say, ‘I’m sorry, but we don’t have a bed tonight, come back tomorrow’. Well, tomorrow may not be any better.”

Last year, the Government budgeted $41m in operational funding over four years and $250m in capital funding over 10 years from July 2027, which will see between 650 and 900 more social homes and affordable rentals built.

Just over 1000 households with children were moved from motels to social housing in the 12 months to June 2025, Housing Minister Chris Bishop said in a statement late last year.

He said the root causes of the housing crisis were broken funding systems and a planning system that hindered housing growth. About half of those on social housing waitlists need a single bedroom home, but only 12% of Kainga Ora stock is one-bedroom.

Although more state homes are being built across the country, about 900 will be sold. More have been sold in Christchurch than anywhere else - nearly 150 between July last year and March - raising $65m but contributing to a net loss of 86 units.

Between the end of December 2023 and May 2025, there was a net increase of 823 state houses in Canterbury, according to the Ministry for Housing and Urban Development’s June 2025 update to Potaka.