Dashboard Disclaimer
This dashboard was created to enable the Council, stakeholders, and the public to access interactive and accessible information about the state of homelessness in Te Awa Kairangi ki Tai Lower Hutt. Beyond this primary purpose, the dashboard also provides information about the housing market, helping to explain the housing pressures that some residents face, such as affordability and its correlation with household crowding. This broader perspective highlights housing stress and deprivation, of which homelessness is just one manifestation.
The data sources are listed in page 6 of the dashboard including sources from Infometrics, Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, Ministry of Social Development, Stats NZ, Tenancy Services and Headway systems Ltd. The information represented here consists of the available data and best-case estimates, which are limited by data availability. For example, census data on housing deprivation captures a single point in time and is limited to data held by government agencies.
It is important to note that hidden homelessness—people experiencing homelessness but not easily seen because they are staying with friends and family or living in unsuitable housing—is not captured by the sector and official statistics, and therefore, is not reflected in the dashboard. Given the limitations of the data, this dashboard provides the best possible estimation of housing deprivation using a variety of sources. It should not be used to oversimplify the understanding of homelessness.