In May, the number of applicants on the public housing wait list hit 17,982 – an increase of 1271 on the previous month. New registrations for public housing were paused from March 26 to allow staff to focus on critical Covid-related assistance, Ministry of Social Development (MSD) general manager of housing Karen Hocking said. Monique Ford/Stuff Otago University public health researcher Kate Amore says she’s expecting an increase in the number of homeless people in New Zealand. Most people did not want to apply for public housing due to the associated stigma, Arthur said. Amore said the Government should prioritise keeping people in their current housing to prevent them from becoming homeless.

Source: Stuff July 26, 2020 01:41 UTC