In this report we refer to one as ‘emergency accommodation��� and the other as ‘transitional housing’. When we talk about the entire system, we use the term ‘emergency housing system’. Alongside these two main initiatives that form the emergency housing system, the Government has put a very significant amount of effort into developing strategies and systems that tackle both homelessness and the circumstances in which people become homeless. The Aotearoa New Zealand Homelessness Action Plan (HAP), published in February 2020, is one of the most significant pieces of work in this area. The Plan’s vision is that “homelessness is prevented where possible, and when it does happen, is rare, brief and nonrecurring.”10 It focuses on four main areas: supply, support, prevention, and system enablers. The Government has also invested very significant effort and funding over the past five years to deliver a more equitable housing system in Aotearoa New Zealand. These include for example, a $3.8 billion housing acceleration fund, legislative changes to improve conditions for renters, the Māori national housing strategy, and the introduction of Healthy Homes Standards. We acknowledge the work that has been done, and the immense importance of these higherlevel strategies and systems in addressing homelessness. However, this report focuses on the front-line response to homelessness: the emergency housing system. Emergency accommodation The Emergency Housing Special Needs Grant was introduced in July 2016, as one of several initiatives responding to an increasing number of people experiencing homelessness.11 The grant pays for emergency accommodation provided by commercial short-term accommodation providers such as motels, hostels, campsites, boarding houses, and backpackers who are not contracted by MSD to deliver accommodation services.12 Accommodation suppliers funded by the emergency housing grant are not considered dedicated emergency housing providers; they are commercial businesses receiving payment from MSD on behalf of a client. MSD emphasises that any contractual relationship is directly between the individual client and the motelier – the supplier is still operating a commercial accommodation service. Following the COVID-19 pandemic response, some moteliers have chosen to provide only emergency accommodation funded via the housing grant, while others continue to operate a ‘mixed model’ (i.e., some emergency accommodation clients and some commercial short-term travel accommodation). The emergency housing grant is administered and funded by MSD. The grant is intended and designed to provide funding for short-term accommodation for people in immediate need, usually for up to seven days at a time. In most circumstances it is non-recoverable (i.e. clients do not have to pay it back).13 MSD will pay the full cost of accommodation for the first seven nights (via the first grant), but if clients need emergency accommodation beyond this they are required to start paying an Emergency Housing Contribution (25% of net income).14 The full cost of the motel is still paid by MSD, with the 25% client contribution collected separately as revenue by MSD.15 19