An audit by Auckland Council found over 900 people were homeless in Auckland. Photo: Nick Monro
Isolated, lonely and far from support networks - that's what people who are homeless say it's like living in Auckland's suburbs.
An Auckland Council audit found more than 400 people were living without shelter in September last year. In May this year, that number was more than 900.
A Salvation Army and Community Housing Aotearoa report released on Tuesday found homelessness in Auckland has more than doubled in the year to September.
But these figures don't capture all the people sleeping rough in suburban areas; living in their cars, abandoned buildings or couch surfing.
Experts are calling for more funding to find out the true extent of the problem... as the government ponders introducing move-on orders to get rough sleepers out of the CBD.
Along the Onehunga foreshore early on a Tuesday morning, 15 cars were parked up, frost coating their windshields.
Blankets, duffel bags and bags of groceries could be seen through the windows.
The occupants there said that before seven o'clock in the morning, there were 30 cars with people sleeping in them. They had since left for work - some even had full time jobs.
One man Checkpoint spoke to was even working multiple jobs, but was sleeping in his car to avoid paying rent.
"It's pretty hard, to be honest, it feels like you're being isolated but I kind of like it in a sense just for my own peace of mind and solitude.
"But at the same time, there's not really much of a community out here."
He had been living in his car for about a year.
"Early mornings and then head out to work, come back when it's nighttime and before the gates close. They have shower facilities here and there's a nearby swimming pool."
The man said he had been applying for full-time jobs but hadn't had much luck. He said he thinks it's partly because of his criminal record from a few years ago.
"There's so [many] factors that [are] kind of holding me back from getting work. For me, inexperience and a criminal record from a long time ago."
Auckland Councillor Josephine Bartley says homelessness in the suburbs has become more noticeable. Photo: Nick Monro
Families with 'nowhere else to go'
On nearby State Avenue, what is now an abandoned lot was once a row of abandoned houses.
Auckland Councillor Josephine Bartley said before they were demolished, a family of four was living in one of them.
"Late at night they'd come back, and they'd go through the barriers and slip into the house, because they had nowhere else to go."
She said homelessness in Auckland's suburbs has become more noticeable.
"It's not public, but you can tell because you can see the cars in the parks in the morning, you can see that there's blankets, you can see it all around.
"Then you've also got people who are couch surfing and older people."
Kildare Peterson has been supporting rough sleepers for several years. He said homelessness in the suburbs is rife.
"They'd rather buy food to feed their kids and instead of paying the rent and they can't afford the power.
"They said it's a lot easier to live out on the streets or live in their car, because all they have to pay for is petrol, but then they can't afford to pay their warrant or rego."
Delphina Soti, general manager of Onehunga St Vincent de Paul's said she's seeing overcrowded households reaching out for support.
"When we do our food parcels, it's for a family of 10, a family of 12, a family of 14, four-bedroom house, garages used up.
"It's still a significant problem; there's still not enough houses out there."
Calls for more research funding
Professor Deidre Brown, a director of MĀPIHI, the Māori and Pacific Housing Research Centre said more research is needed to discover the true the extent of homelessness in Aotearoa.
"The hidden nature of this homelessness will only be exacerbated by a lack of data around this.
"It's already hidden when people are couch surfing and living in garages.
"But when we don't have people going out and finding the extent of the problem and whether or not that issue is growing, we really can't make good decisions around housing provision in the future."
But she said there currently isn't the funding.
"It concerns me that the changes in the research funding landscape that the current coalition government have instigated over recent years makes it even more difficult to obtain the funding to undertake that research."
Homelessness in Auckland more than doubles since the year to September
The National Homelessness Data Project was created by The Salvation Army and Community Housing Aotearoa, with Kāhui Tū Kaha, Christchurch Methodist Mission, Housing First Backbone, Wellington City Mission, Downtown Community Ministry.
The project's latest six-monthly survey showed homelessness in Auckland has more than doubled from 426 to 940 people in the year to September.
It found homelessness is spreading beyond city centres into suburbs and people are being moved from one place to another.
Women and older people are being increasingly impacted, with four out of five homeless women identifying as Māori.
Welfare changes hitting hard
A Citizens Advice Bureau report released last week found because of welfare changes, people are losing the cars they live in and are struggling meet basic living costs.
The report, Mana Āki - Dignity for All, is based on over 10,000 requests to the Citizens Advice Bureau. It calls for the welfare system to accommodate for the complexity of people's real-life circumstances and to treat people with dignity.
It found government policies such as benefit sanctions, tighter emergency housing criteria and cuts to community services had worsened hardship.
In September this year, the government funded an extra 300 social homes through Housing First and put $10 million towards support services for people sleeping rough.
Ministry of Social Development staff were also told to use greater discretion when looking at emergency housing applications.
Meanwhile, Minister of Justice Paul Goldsmith is currently seeking advice on additional measures to enhance safety in Aotearoa's CBDs, including the potential use of move-on orders for rough sleepers.
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