Photo: RNZ / Finn Blackwell
A worker at a special court that helps Auckland's homeless who have committed low-level offences turn their lives around, says she is seeing increasing levels of poor mental health and distress over the past six to 12 months at the court, as the city continues to see a rise in the number of people without shelter.
On Tuesday, the release of the latest six-monthly survey of housing support providers under the National Homelessness Data Project (NHDP) showed that homelessness in Auckland has more than doubled from 426 to 940 people in the year to September.
The report, released by the Salvation Army and Community Housing Aotearoa, found that 14 of the 21 agencies interviewed reported an increase in homelessness.
It highlighted that the number of emergency housing applications that were declined increased from 4 percent in March 2024 to 36 percent by June 2025, while the assessment of whether people had "contributed to their own homelessness" remains a major reason for declining grants.
The report said there was little evidence to suggest that the Ministry for Social Development (MSD) had adjusted its "
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