2018 Severe Housing Deprivation Estimate

About the report 

Te Tūāpapa Kura Kāinga – Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) contracted the University of Otago to produce an estimate of New Zealand’s homeless population, using 2018 Census data. The result is the Severe Housing Deprivation in Aotearoa 2018 report.  

The report serves as a reminder that people experiencing homelessness aren’t just those who are visible on the streets, but also include people living in motels or cars, or having to couch surf with friends or family, or stay in a night shelter or refuge.  

Download the  Severe Housing Deprivation Estimate: 2018 Report

The numbers 

The report found that approximately 102,000 people in New Zealand were severely housing deprived, according to Census data collected on 6 March 2018. 

Previous estimates put that number at around 40,000. The rise is due to the addition of around 60,000 people in a new category of people living in uninhabitable housing. For housing to be considered uninhabitable, it has to lack at least one of six basic amenities: tap water that’s safe to drink; electricity; cooking facilities; a kitchen sink; a bath or shower; a toilet. 

The 102,000 total includes: 

• 3,624 people who were considered to be living without shelter, e.g on the streets, in improvised dwellings (such as cars), and in mobile dwellings 
• 7,929 people who were living in temporary accommodation, such as night shelters, women’s refuges, transitional housing, camping grounds, boarding houses, hotels, motels, vessels and marae. 
• 30,171 people who were sharing accommodation, staying with others in severely crowded dwellings 
• 60,399 people who were living in uninhabitable housing.  

Census data 

There were problems with data collection for the 2018 Census, with lower than expected participation rates. This had a significant effect on the quality of information collected, including a likely undercount of the number of Māori and Pacific people experiencing severe housing deprivation. This underlines the importance of developing other sources of data to monitor severe housing deprivation. 

A point in time measurement 

The estimates in the report are a point in time measurement, taken from the 2018 Census.  

The impact of COVID-19 and the government response to homelessness since the Census will present a different picture of the Aotearoa New Zealand homeless population than described in the estimate.  

Aotearoa Homelessness Action Plan 

Since the Census 2018, we have created and started implementing the Aotearoa Homelessness Action Plan (HAP). This was developed in partnership with the homeless sector and places an emphasis on taking kaupapa Māori approaches that aim to assist hapū, iwi and Māori organisations to address homelessness in a way that best meets the needs and aspirations of their communities.  

Read more about HAP (external link)

Related document: Severe Housing Deprivation - A comparison of a census measure with service usage 

This analysis of 2013 and 2018 Severe Housing Deprivation data explores the use of government health, justice and social services by people experiencing severe housing deprivation.

The report includes how these service use patterns vary across the categories of homelessness and how they compare with other known homeless populations. This work contributes to our understanding of data relating to those experiencing homelessness.

Severe Housing Deprivation – A comparison of a census measure with service usage (PDF, 1.1 MB)