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Source: ONE News -
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Community groups are warning a major crisis is brewing as a result of changes to New Zealand's state housing policy.
Last year the Government tightened the criteria for obtaining a Housing New Zealand property.
Now community groups say some struggling families are being forced to live in caravans or even their cars.
For one South Auckland family, home was a bedroom shared between two adults and their two children in a friend's rented house.
"I feel helpless. I can't do any more things better because we can't find any place to stay," the father of the family told ONE News.
The family earns $808.21 a week. But their budget advisers say after paying weekly expenses, they are left with just under $100 a week for emergencies.
So they applied to Housing New Zealand for a state house, but were declined and told they could afford a private rental.
"How am I going to get a private rental if my income's still low?" the father asked. "And how am I going to get a life for my family?"
The family has missed out on a state house because they earn too much - $23.77 above the threshold to be eligible for a state house.
They are not considered to be in the greatest need under rule changes introduced last year.
Housing Minister Phil Heatley says state housing is for those in need.
"We're satisfied that we're now using state houses for those people most in need which is what we wanted to do," he said.
The family has provided letters from agencies saying they cannot afford a private rental and overcrowded conditions are bad for their daughter's health.
Community group the Monte Cecilia Housing Trust has provided them with temporary housing.
David Zussman of the trust says the family is not alone.
"More and more of the families coming to us are saying we're not getting helped by Housing New Zealand," he said.
And they trust is not the only community agency feeling the pressure, the Salvation Army also reporting the impact.
"I feel so desperately for our workers on the ground, because they are faced almost daily with very, very difficult housing issues to solve," said Mayor Campbell Roberts of the Salvation Army.
Housing advocates have told ONE News many families who can't afford private rentals are living in shared lodges. They say they also know of families living in caravans and are increasingly hearing about people using a car as a bedroom outside already overcrowded houses.
ONE News asked Housing New Zealand how many families are waiting for help.
The most up to date figures it can provide are more than a year old, when 5189 families were on the corporation's waiting list.
ONE News also asked how many had been turned away since the rules changed, but was told the data wasn't readily available. TVNZ is now seeking it under the Official Information Act.
The Government says the state housing stock is actually increasing - by nearly 230 in the last year alone.
"There's plenty more work to do, we acknowledge that," Heatley said.
"But the key point I'd like to make is, we've increased the number of state houses and we're making sure that the families most in need get them first.
"And I can't see how you can argue against that."
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