Cost of emergency housing
In most cases we'll cover the cost of your accommodation for the first 7 nights if you qualify. Then you'll have to start paying for some of the accommodation costs. This is called an Emergency Housing Contribution.
In most cases we'll cover the cost of your accommodation for the first 7 nights if either:
- it's your first time in emergency housing, or
- it's been a while since you've needed emergency housing and there's a new reason you need it again.
From the 8th night, you'll pay an Emergency Housing Contribution.
If the emergency housing supplier also needs a security deposit, we can help with this.
Security deposit for emergency housing
Emergency Housing Contribution
Below are the details of the Emergency Housing Contribution.
How much you have to pay
After 7 nights, you'll start to pay an Emergency Housing Contribution.
You will need to pay the higher amount of either:
- 25% of your and your partner's (if you have one) weekly income (after tax), or
- 25% of the Jobseeker Support benefit rate you and your partner (if you have one) would qualify for (if you're not already getting it).
Income may include payments from us, wages, salary or other income, or family tax credits.
We'll let you know exactly how much your Emergency Housing Contribution will be and when you need to pay it by.
How to pay for it
If you get a main benefit, NZ Super or Veteran's Pension, it will automatically come out of your payment.
If you don't get a main benefit, NZ Super or Veteran's Pension, you can either:
- set up an automatic payment (in the reference field put the letter 'E' followed by your 9 digit client number)
- make a one-off payment to pay your contribution in full. There are different ways to do this, e.g. online or internet banking. See our Pay debt in NZ page for options of how to pay your contribution in full, or
- pay the contribution directly from your wages - call our Client Support Debt Management team on 0800 558 0008 or email Client_Support_Debt_Management@msd.govt.nz
What happens if you don't pay it
You must pay your Emergency Housing Contribution on time. This is one of your responsibilities while in emergency housing.
If you haven't paid it on time and you don't have a good reason, then either:
- you'll get a warning, or
- if you've had 2 warnings, your emergency housing grant will be declined and you won't be able to get it for 13 weeks.