Government housing policy has tended to be designed around this model, assuming and promoting a
linear progression from one end of the continuum (requiring most support) to the other (requiring least
support).96
Some organisations responding to housing need have reframed the housing continuum to acknowledge
housing’s social function and to highlight that those in forms of housing including transitional housing are
still experiencing homelessness.97 For example, the Independent Māori Statutory Board has developed the
alternative model below, with the goal of “shift[ing] from thinking about housing in terms of financial cost,
to thinking about its social function.”98
Rough sleeping
Sharing temporarily
Uninhabitable
Secure, safe
Secure
and whānau or
and safe
intergenerational
Emergency Transition
Secure,
safe and
empowering
for whānau
Homelessness (NZ definition)
Safe and secure experiences
Kāinga potential and real lived experience
Housing system terms
Commercial accommodation suppliers. Motels,
backpackers, and other commercial short-term
accommodation providers. These suppliers
provide the bulk of emergency accommodation
funded by the emergency housing grant. They are
not contracted by MSD and operate as commercial
businesses receiving payment from MSD on behalf
of MSD’s clients.
Contracted motel. Motels were first used as
transitional housing in 2017. This has continued,
with HUD now contracting a number of motel
blocks to operate entirely as a transitional housing
property (usually with contracted social service
providers on site to manage the facility).
COVID-19 motels. Motels originally contracted
during the first COVID-19 lockdown to ensure
vulnerable people would have somewhere safe
to stay. These ‘COVID-19 motels’ include support
services but are not transitional housing. The
contracts are renewed and ongoing as of 2022.
Emergency accommodation. The temporary
emergency accommodation that is funded by the
emergency housing grant. It is typically provided
by non-contracted commercial accommodation
suppliers such as motels. It is sometimes also
referred to as “emergency housing”.
Emergency housing grant. The Emergency
Housing Special Needs Grant, which funds noncontracted temporary emergency accommodation
for 7 to 21 days at a time. It is administered by the
Ministry of Social Development.
65