It could be a community agency or the council itself, or perhaps both.
The council decided yesterday to ask for expressions of interest from community providers to run a three-year programme from April next year.
Proposals would be compared with a council in-house model before a decision about the preferred approach.
The resolution to seek input from community agencies was advanced by Cr Andrew Simms, supported by Cr Russell Lund, and it passed 8-7. Crucially, it had the support of Dunedin Mayor Sophie Barker.
Councillors who voted against had signalled they favoured a council-led outreach service, adding two staff to the payroll.
Making that call yesterday might have meant the council could have had an outreach service running by February, Cr Marie Laufiso said.
"It is about urgency," she said.
The annual cost of an outreach service run by the council was put at $270,000.
Dunedin Night Shelter manager David McKenzie said the shelter had shifted from being a place for people to lay their heads to also trying to help them with their next steps.
There remained a need for outreach, he said.
Cr Simms urged councillors to keep their options open, including by allowing community providers to make their case.
The council could still run with an in-house model, or perhaps a hybrid approach, if this turned out to be the best option available, he said.
Ms Barker said the council supported having an outreach service and it needed to find the most appropriate way of delivering it.
The council should make "the right decision, rather than the fast decision", she said.
Cr Lund said non-government organisations did a fantastic job in Dunedin and it would be a travesty to deny them a chance to help the council.
Ratepayers wanted a result on homelessness at the most efficient cost and with the best delivery, he said.
Cr Mandy Mayhem called for the council to show leadership.
Council housing policy adviser Gill Brown desperately needed support, she said.
The council asks for expressions of interest about providing a housing outreach service
For (8): Mayor Sophie Barker, Crs Cherry Lucas, Russell Lund, Benedict Ong, Jules Radich, Andrew Simms, Lee Vandervis, Brent Weatherall.
Against (7): Crs John Chambers, Christine Garey, Doug Hall, Marie Laufiso, Mandy Mayhem, Mickey Treadwell, Steve Walker.
