The Government is under fire for “worsening New Zealand’s homelessness crisis” with Labour accusing Ministers of ignoring warnings from frontline housing providers and relying on flawed data to justify their policies.

Labour’s housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said the Government had been repeatedly told by those on the ground that more people were sleeping rough because of changes to emergency housing policy.

“They are stopping people from accessing emergency housing, which is resulting in more people sleeping rough. Even victims of domestic violence are being denied, which providers have been raising for some time,” McAnulty said.

He also pointed to a select committee hearing where Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka admitted he only acted on the issue of domestic violence victims being denied emergency housing after Labour raised it in Parliament.

“The Minister of Housing Chris Bishop continues to say the housing register is not an accurate reflection of need, yet he uses it to justify a budget that neglects housing,” McAnulty said.

“They’re denying there’s a growing number of homeless people while claiming they’re making a difference based on what they admit is inaccurate data. All the while dismissing frontline providers who all say it is an issue that is getting much worse.”

“Housing is a human right, yet there are more people on the streets under National. The fact they won’t admit that shows they’re full of it,” he said.

However, Housing Minister Chris Bishop defended the Government’s record, citing the success of its flagship Priority One policy.

“In the first twelve months of the Priority One policy, nearly 1000 families with more than 2,124 children have been moved from dank emergency housing motel rooms to secure, stable homes,” Bishop said.

“The largescale use of emergency housing was one of the biggest public policy failures in New Zealand history. Under the previous Government’s watch, thousands of children were consigned to grow up in cramped, dingy motel rooms at a cost to taxpayers of $1 million every day at its peak.

“We campaigned on introducing a Priority One category to help these kids and their families move into social homes, and getting it up and running was a key priority for us.”

Bishop said families with dependent children who had been in emergency housing for 12 weeks or more were now prioritised for social housing.

“Thanks to Priority One and the hard work of many frontline staff across multiple government agencies, thousands of children now live in a warm, dry social home instead of a crowded motel room.”

Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka said the Government had already exceeded its target of reducing the number of households in emergency housing by 75 percent by 2030.

“Since November 2023 to April 2025, households in emergency housing have dropped from 3,342 to 516– that’s a drop of 84.5 percent,” Potaka said.

“In April 2024, there were 3,339 children in emergency housing, and a year later we’re down to 519.

“One of the whānau we’re talking about today is a family of six whose eldest child has serious health concerns needing specialist care, but who had been struggling while stuck living in emergency accommodation for six months. Our Priority One focus helped get this whānau into a stable Kāinga Ora home and helped enable them to get the wider support they needed.”

Potaka said the Ministry of Social Development had also improved how it tracks emergency housing outcomes.

“Of the households that exited emergency housing during December 2024, 37 percent moved into social housing, 29 percent into transitional housing, and 19 percent into private rentals. Only 14 percent did not access any housing-related assistance,” he said.