Ross Giblin/Stuff
Michael Quan, who has multiple health issues, has been living in various motels for over a year. He is one of many people in the Wellington region living in emergency housing.
Emergency housing in the Wellington region has almost tripled over the last year, with the effects of Covid-19 and a shortage of affordable housing to blame for the “absolutely dire” crisis. The Ministry of Social Development has confirmed that 622 households are currently living in emergency housing throughout the larger Wellington region, which includes Wellington City, Johnsonville, Lower Hutt, Naenae, Newtown, Porirua, Upper Hutt, and Wainuiomata. This time last year 210 households in the region were living in emergency accommodation, almost three times fewer than the current amount.