Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb and Ilam MP Hamish Campbell have clashed over whether homelessness is increasing in the city and what is being done to address the issue.

Webb said concerns about growing homelessness and antisocial behaviour were being raised regularly by central city residents.

“I’ve had a lot of people coming to me saying they’ve seen an increase in homelessness and antisocial behaviour — sitting on pavements and so on. It is real, and it’s disingenuous to suggest it’s not,” Webb said.

He blamed the current government’s housing policies for worsening the situation.

“This is happening across the board, not just in Christchurch. Labour was criticised for its emergency housing programme and the money spent on it. But this government has reduced it significantly. Some people have moved into Kāinga Ora housing or private rentals, but about 20 percent — no one knows where they’ve gone,” he said.

“We’re finally finding out they’ve been pushed into precarious situations — someone’s garage, a tent in a park, or a van at the beach. Homelessness is on the rise because of this government’s policies. Absolutely. There’s no doubt about it.”

Webb also said the government had failed to deliver on its housing promises.

“This government has built exactly zero new houses. The only ones completed were started under Labour,” he said.

“They’ve cancelled thousands of homes — hundreds of them here in Christchurch. We can go to sites where work was meant to start, but it’s stopped because the government says it wants Kāinga Ora to be ‘more financially sustainable.’ But you can’t live on vacant land — not unless you’ve got a tent.”

When asked if he accepted that projects had been cancelled, Campbell defended the government’s strategy.

“It’s a really simplistic view of our community housing sector. Yes, the government can build houses, but we also want to back our community housing providers. They know what the community actually needs and can provide it,” Campbell said.

He pointed to a funding announcement as proof of action.

“We’ve announced over $140 million to fund 1,500 new social housing places. It doesn’t always have to be the government building them — community housing providers play a critical role here.”

Campbell said homelessness numbers naturally fluctuated but help was available.

“There’s always going to be fluctuations in the number of people homeless for various reasons. But what we say is — if anyone needs help, they should go to MSD. They’ll get assistance.”

Webb challenged that, calling it “absolute rubbish” and shared a case from his electorate office.

“I had a guy with a broken back, just out of hospital, sleeping in his car. He went to MSD and was moved along. He wasn’t even recognised as needing a house. That’s just false.”

“Over Christmas, he was in his car for three weeks while my office tried to find him somewhere. In the end, a room came up in a boarding house, and we got him in — but that was us doing the work, not MSD. If you’re sleeping in a car and still being told you’re not in enough need — that is the reality.”

Campbell said his own experience had been different.

“We actually have a really good working relationship with MSD. When we’ve had constituents come in with housing issues, we’ve worked with MSD to make sure that housing is available,” he said.

“When I first came in, about 17 months ago, we had a huge number of people seeking emergency housing. We’ve seen that really tail off. But yes, there are still challenges.”

Webb pushed back, saying, “Maybe your constituents are different, because I’m getting a steady stream. And that one example is just the tip of the iceberg.”

Campbell said the government was committed to reducing reliance on emergency housing.

“We’ve moved over 2,000 children out of emergency housing into social housing. Living in motels isn’t suitable for families or raising children. So yes, we’re working with providers to make sure social housing is available.”

Both MPs agreed placing vulnerable people together in large complexes could create other problems.

Webb said, “In the inner city, I stop and talk to people making a bit of a nuisance of themselves. When you ask why they’re there, they’ll tell you — drug issues, gang connections, mental health problems. Just giving them a house doesn’t solve this.”

He said better support services were needed.

“We need proper mental health support. Even the hospital’s emergency department is being overwhelmed with mental health cases. If we don’t deal with that, just finding a house is only a partial solution.”

Webb also said social housing needed to be spread across the city to avoid creating hotspots of social issues.

“Sometimes when new social housing goes up, the neighbours complain. But if we don’t spread it out, we get 60 units packed onto one section, and that’s not ideal,” he said.

“We’ve got to be realistic — people need housing, but we also need communities to welcome that housing. If we don’t, the problems just get worse.”