Third of those declined emergency housing not offered any alternative

About a third of people who are declined emergency housing are not offered any alternative housing support because officials say they're not eligible.

Since the government made it harder to get into emergency housing two years ago, it's consistently said it should be a last resort, and those who were turned down were being supported in other ways.

The Prime Minister repeated such statements in Parliament on Wednesday.

But it appears some who ask for emergency housing get nothing at all.

It comes as the government faces pressure over its support for rough sleepers following revelations Ministry of Social Development managers have performance targets related to reducing emergency housing numbers.

The Auckland City Missioner Helen Robinson labelled that a perverse incentive to decline people emergency housing.

The Ministry of Social Development's client service support general manager Graham Allpress told RNZ staff did not leave people with nowhere to go.

"Around 70% of people who are not granted Emergency Housing are offered an alternative housing support such as transitional housing, rent arrears assistance to help them stay in their current property or assistance into a private rental with a bond in advance payment," his statement said.

RNZ asked what happened to the 30 percent of people who were declined, and not offered alternative support.

"People are under no obligation to tell us where they are living, and we do not track people who are not receiving MSD support," Allpress wrote.

RNZ asked how the original statement - "we don't leave people with nowhere to go" - married with the statement that 30 percent of people who were declined emergency accommodation were not offered alternative housing support.

Allpress said: "To clarify our earlier statement - while we try to help people who are eligible with housing support there will be people who are not eligible."

MSD could not identify everyone's accommodation, such as people who went into private rentals, Allpress said.

'There are genuine options available' - PM

In Parliament on Wednesday, Labour leader Chris Hipkins fired questions at the prime minister about the government's approach to homelessness.

Christopher Luxon repeatedly pointed to the options being offered to those in need.

First: "Just because someone is declined for an emergency housing application, that means that they may be better ... not to go to a motel but to actually get into a house through transitional housing, social housing, rent arrears [support], and those sorts of things."

And later: "When people are in genuine need, there are genuine options available for people, and it may well be the assessment that we can use a social house, a transitional house, rent arrears, or a private rental as well," he said.

Hipkins asked why Luxon's government could not see the link between "booting people out" of emergency accommodation and what he said were record numbers of rough sleepers.

Luxon shot back: "You put 3400 kids in motels and you didn't care, and now you want to talk to me about homelessness.

"We do something on this, because we care about those people. We don't do petty stuff and petty politics like that side."

Luxon said his government had a better record on housing than his Labour predecessors.

"Housing's more affordable, rents are down, the social housing wait-list is down, 2400 kids are out of squalid, crime-ridden motels, and we are putting a lot of focus on homelessness and rough sleeping."

He noted the number of rough sleepers in Auckland had decreased since September, as evidenced by the housing ministry's Homelessness Insights Report released last month.

The report did make that finding, but it also said most councils it spoke with reported increasing numbers of people living without shelter over the past six months.