Bernie Smith: social housing commentator says homelessness stats probably worse than data shows

A social housing commentator says the numbers of people without a home is probably worse than data suggests. 

June Homelessness Insights released today show rough sleeping's worsening countrywide, across all measures. 

The 2023 Census indicated a 37 percent increase between 2018 and 2023, reaching almost 5,000 without shelter. 

But Bernie Smith says the Census wasn't that accurate - and explained many people on the street weren't contactable or didn't do the Census. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
A highly anticipated report on homelessness has finally been released.
The report shows homelessness rose by thirty seven percent between
twenty eighteen and twenty twenty three. Previous government and anecdotally,
city councils are reporting that the numbers of rough sleepers
have increased in this current government's term. Social housing commentator
Bernie Bernie Smith is with me, now, hey, Bernie, hi,

(00:21):
heav is this report the slam dunk that it's being
reported as well?

Speaker 2 (00:27):
I certainly think that the present minister is not living
in reality by saying that the information that's coming through
from various ngngas is antidota. I mean it's factual information
that nsc M hard has provided it.

Speaker 1 (00:48):
Okay, But it is anecdotal, isn't it? Because it's counsels
who are saying yep, and the numbers are quite bag Bernie.
I mean they're saying, you know, in Auckland's homelessness has
gone up I think seventy three percent in some places
tohundred and something percent, like massive increases. But it is
still anecdotal, isn't it? And does that count as much
as actually going around and counting in the senses?

Speaker 2 (01:08):
Well, I don't think even the senses was accurate enough
on homelessness. So either because many of the homeless people
were not contactible who weren't interested in sewing in the
sensors because there couldn't see any relevance to their homelessness.

Speaker 1 (01:23):
Yeah, well, it's also it's also hard to get a
letter delivered to someone who doesn't live in.

Speaker 2 (01:28):
A house, right exactly?

Speaker 1 (01:30):
Can we blame it on the emergency accommodation being unwhelmed?

Speaker 2 (01:36):
I think we have to lay some of the blames
at that because you don't get rid of or shut
down all the motels and then claim that said no
impact on the increasing numbers of homelessness. Fair point, but
we have a cost of living crisis and a number

(01:57):
of other things going on, rental substantially, so we've got
people that once were comfortable, even though they were just surviving,
now falling into homelessness.

Speaker 1 (02:11):
To critis Bernie, thank you, look after Yourself, Bernie Smith's
social housing commentator, formacy of the Monte Cecilia Housing Trust.
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