Your responsibilities in emergency housing
If you're in emergency housing for more than 7 nights, there are responsibilities you have to meet from the 8th night. Find out what these are and what happens if you don't meet them.
Your responsibilities are:
- make a good effort to find other housing by doing things like:
- looking for rentals
- getting help to pay for private accommodation, or
- staying with whānau or friends
- engage with support services like a housing broker or navigator, or budget or employment advisors. These will be either services we refer you to, or services you're already working with, and
- pay your emergency housing contribution on time.
We'll let you know about these responsibilities when you apply for emergency housing. You won't need to meet them until you've been in emergency housing for more than 7 nights.
How to meet your responsibilities
From night 8, you'll need to complete activities to help you meet your responsibilities. Your case manager will discuss and agree with you what activities you'll need to do.
Activities will be tailored to your circumstances and be achievable.
They will be things which will help you to get a home, for example:
- meeting with a housing broker
- attending a Ready to Rent course
- working with budget advisors, or
- looking for a private rental.
You'll get a letter listing your agreed activities, and who to contact if you need help.
At each re-grant appointment, we'll check you've done the activities you agreed to. We'll also talk with you about any activities you'll need to do to get your next grant.
What happens if you don't meet your responsibilities
If you don't meet your responsibilities and do what we've agreed, we'll want to understand why.
If you don't meet your responsibilities without a good reason for the:
- first time - you'll get a written warning.
- second time - you'll get another written warning.
- third time, then:
- we'll decline your next emergency housing application
- you won't be able to get emergency housing for 13 weeks (this is called a 'non-entitlement period'), and
- you can't be included as a partner on someone else's emergency housing application.
If you get a written warning, we'll give you a letter with this warning.
If you still need emergency housing during the 13 weeks, you may be able to get it if you meet certain criteria. Contact us to talk about your situation.