Weeks before the government is set to give police powers to move on rough sleepers, officials have admitted they cannot guarantee immediate shelter for anyone on any given night.

It comes after several reports of rough sleepers dying, including a woman found unresponsive on New Brighton beach in Christchurch who later died on August 2 and a man who was also recently found unresponsive in a Cuba St doorway in Wellington. RNZ also reported another rough sleeper died in Auckland in July.

Some people have also now questioned why police did not use their powers under the Mental Health Act to remove the woman from New Brighton beach for her own welfare.

Auckland City Missioner Helen Robinson told RNZ she was grateful officials had  "formally acknowledged" they cannot guarantee immediate shelter for anyone on any given night, but said it is "deeply distressed" that is the reality in the country.

It comes as Auckland City Mission told RNZ it is managing with the resources it has, but demand is "relentless".

In June, it was reported that Ministry of Social Development (MSD) managers had performance measures related to reducing emergency housing numbers. These measures have now been refocused to achieve "sustainable housing".

At the time, the prime minister admitted he did not know there was no night shelter in Auckland for people sleeping rough.

 

And in June, the grieving mother of another homeless woman who died in Christchurch said the controversial move on orders will make survival even harder for people living on the streets by pushing them to society's margins.

 

Caitlin McDonald survived less than two years of rough sleeping in the city, chronicling her descent into homelessness in hundreds of YouTube videos filmed on her phone.

 

 

Since then, RNZ has attempted to understand what shelter is available for someone who is sleeping rough.

 

Over the past month, RNZ sought clarification from both MSD and the Ministry for Cities, Environment, Regions and Transport (MCERT) — which leads the government's overall programme of work to address rough sleeping - to understand where exactly someone is supposed to go if they need shelter immediately.

 

After multiple requests, RNZ was finally told by MCERT "there is no guarantee that shelter can be provided for every person in every circumstance in every location".

The agency said access to accommodation was dependent on a range of factors such as "an individual's circumstances, location, service capacity, and real-time availability of accommodation and appropriate support", all of which could change quickly it said.

Robinson told RNZ she'd never had it formally acknowledged there was no guarantee, "I am distressed and I am calling for change."

It comes as the government's move on orders legislation, which has received strong opposition, are being progressed ahead of the election.

The law would give police the power to order people as young as 14 to move elsewhere or face a possible jail sentence if they were being disorderly, begging or rough sleeping.

It also comes following reports of rough sleepers dying outdoors overnight, a man found unresponsive in a Cuba Street doorway in Wellington and a woman found unresponsive on New Brighton beach in Christchurch. RNZ understands another rough sleeper died in Auckland in July.

So for those who had nowhere else to go, and may be told to move on, where exactly could they go?

Understanding the current situation

As recently as Sunday, the minister in charge of move on orders, Paul Goldsmith told TVNZ's Q+A there were "resources available and places available for people 24/7".

Emergency housing grants are the government's primary mechanism for providing immediate shelter to people who have "nowhere else to go" and "can't stay where they are".

Housing Minister Chris Bishop said in July emergency housing still existed "because there will always be people facing genuine housing crises".

"But now it's being used as it was always intended: as a temporary last resort."

Housing providers and social services have consistently said the governments tightened emergency housing criteria has resulted in an uptick in homelessness. That concern was raised by RNZ as early as March last year, with Community Housing Aotearoa chief executive Paul Gilberd saying again this week there was a direct link between the two.

As recently as Thursday, Serena Moran - a nurse practitioner and clinic lead at Te Aro Health Centre in Wellington - told RNZ there'd been an increase in rough sleepers she was treating, including people being released from prison with no plans to continue accessing antipsychotic medication.

She said the reality most days was treating patients who may have been assaulted and having nowhere to send them.

"I basically have to say to them, 'I'm sorry, I can't find you anywhere to stay tonight. You'll need to go back to the street. I'll give you pain relief. I'll try and make you feel as comfortable as I can'."

But ministers and MSD have consistently maintained that emergency housing remains available to anyone who meets the criteria and has a "genuine need".

Ministers and MSD have also repeatedly said that people who did not receive emergency housing could have their "needs met in another way", including through other housing pathways.

Other options include:

  • transitional housing;
  • social housing; and
  • immediate access transitional housing

But none of those pathways guaranteed a person sleeping rough today would have somewhere safe to sleep tonight, especially if the limited immediate access transitional housing beds were full. There were only 65 nationwide.

Kāhui Tū Kaha provided the majority of these beds and told RNZ it was managing with the resources it had, but said the demand was "relentless". It also accepted referrals from police and hospitals overnight.

On Thursday evening, it accepted an elderly woman with physical access needs and a 17-year-old who had both been sleeping on the street. It also accepted a woman becoming homeless due to family violence, and a young woman who police wanted separated from a violent partner.

Kāhui Tū Kaha said things were tight but "we're constantly juggling".

What shelter is actually available tonight?

Over the past month, RNZ asked MSD and MCERT multiple times what options were available for someone sleeping on the streets to go somewhere that night - more specifically, to get a bed under a roof within 24 hours.

Through various responses and phone calls, RNZ received the following information.

RNZ was told that emergency housing "is not necessarily the best option for rough sleepers" who may have a range of complex needs and require additional support.

MSD noted there were more outreach and support services for rough sleepers announced in June by associate housing minister Tama Potaka, and referenced the additional $14.5 million attached.

"Of those who approach MSD for emergency housing, 89 percent receive either emergency housing, transitional housing, help with a private rental, or hardship assistance."

In response, RNZ asked for figures around the percentage of people who were declined emergency housing and offered "some other form of assistance", specifically actual shelter tonight - noting that someone could not sleep in a food grant, but an official information act request was required, which has since been made.

MSD also outlined that emergency housing was intended as a last resort - despite earlier stating it wasn't the "best option". Its service centre hours were between 8:30am to 5pm Monday to Friday and 9:30am to 5pm on Wednesdays.

It was possible for clients to receive a short-term grant outside of service hours, to "meet immediate housing needs until client can attend the next available appointment", but MSD wasn't able to provide the percentage of calls received outside hours and how many of those were granted without an official information act request, which has since been made.

Where possible MSD would refer people with an urgent housing need to suitable transitional housing or Housing First placements - these were funded by MCERT and generally provided more support than was available to someone in Emergency Housing.

MCERT's response clarified the different housing pathways for those in need:

Housing First

This supported people experiencing "chronic homelessness" to access and remain in stable housing. Support was available for as long as needed, but you had to have been sleeping rough for at least 12 months over the past three years to be considered. Those "new" to rough sleeping weren't elegible by definition.

The government announced an additional 300 homes for Housing First in 2025, following the concerns of increased homelessness.

Transitional housing

Transitional Housing offered "short-term, temporary accommodation" for those who may be affected by a change in circumstances. It also provided tailored support. Emergency referrals could generally be accomodated here.

However, MCERT confirmed the total number of contracted transitional housing places had fallen since 2023, that's despite increasing reliance on transitional housing as an alternative to emergency housing.

It said there were around 300 less places contracted in June 2026, compared to November 2023, reflecting the "planned exit of higher-cost motel-based places, as well as routine fluctuations associated with portfolio management", MCERT said.

As well, when existing transitional housing beds were redesignated as "immediate access" beds from December 2025, MCERT did not specify those beds were replaced elsewhere in the system.

Immediate access transitional housing

This is the most immediate option available, where contracted providers could accommodate eligible households without the need to first go through "standard MSD assessment and referral processes".

MCERT confirmed:

RNZ then asked one more time, "what shelter is available and can be guaranteed tonight for someone who is sleeping rough?".

MCERT finally said there was "no guarantee" that shelter could be provided for every person in every circumstance in every location.

  • there were only 65 immediate access transitional housing beds nationwide;
  • all 65 were in Auckland;
  • only 20 were in central Auckland