Auck. families living in garages, camps

Press, 5 August 1985, Page 18

Auck. families living in garages, camps

PA Auckland Hundreds of Auckland families are living in substandard conditions, with friends, or in garages and mobile homes, says the Salvation Army. More than 5000 Auckland families were on Housing Corporation waiting lists and about 500 of those families were homeless and classified “urgent,” said the Salvation Army’s community services director, Captain Campbell Roberts. The housing problem in South Auckland was desperate, he

said. Almost 2500 families wanted homes and more than 400 were living in unacceptable conditions. High rents had forced some families into makeshift accommodation and a number of families had been reduced to living in camping grounds.

Some caravan hire firms said that even life in a camping ground was too expensive for some solo mothers and young couples. “It is cheaper to put a caravan on a friend’s section,” one firm said. Another added that the trouble with caravans on vacant sites and sections was that some had no electricity, toilets or showers.

The manager of the South Auckland Caravan Centre, Mr Geoff Hawke, said the trend of people living in caravans was city-wide. People could not afford rent for flats.

Caravan renting was “very big business,” he said. “People used to buy caravans for holidaying. More than ever they are using them to live in.”