15855 (2025). Chlöe Swarbrick to the Associate Minister of Housing

15855 (2025). Chlöe Swarbrick to the Associate Minister of Housing: What is the exact step-by-step process for someone to get into emergency housing right now; provide for comparison any other step-by-step process that has existed since December 2023?

Hon Tama Potaka: I refer the Member to the following links on the Work and Income website: • The step-by-step procedure for those applying for emergency housing (EH): www.workandincome.govt.nz/housing/nowhere-to-stay/emergency-housing/apply.html. • Current operational policy guidelines for staff when processing emergency housing grant (EHG) applications: www.workandincome.govt.nz/map/income-support/extra-help/emergency-housing/qualifications-for-emergency-housing.html. • Changes made to our operational guidelines: www.workandincome.govt.nz/map/changes/map-changes-in-2024.html. I am also advised by the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) that the key changes between December 2023 and 26 August 2024 are: • EHGs and Security Deposits Grants were removed from the Special Needs Grant Programme and moved into a new welfare programme • the introduction of new responsibilities framework. The client must understand, agree to, and meet the responsibilities to qualify for EH • there are new consequences for not meeting the responsibilities (including warnings and a 13-week non-entitlement period for EH) • the EHGs Programme allows MSD to require a client to provide supporting evidence when granting EHGs • EHGs can no longer be made recoverable. Recoverability was rarely used and will be replaced with consequences such as warnings and a non-entitlement period • the removal of the welfare assessment. This required MSD to consider whether declining an EHG would: worsen the client’s position or create or increase a risk to the client or their immediate family’s welfare or cause them serious hardship.