Few Wellington mayoral hopefuls give housing response

The Wellington Archdiocese Catholic Housing Forum and the Archdiocese’s Ecology, Justice and Peace Commission Social Equity Committee surveyed the five councils in the region to get an idea of their housing policy and provision. Mayoral candidates were asked for their views on local responses to housing need.

Questions were sent to eight candidates to be Mayor of Wellington. Three other candidates did not have email addresses.

The three Wellington mayoral candidates who responded were Ray Chung, Karl Tiefenbacher and Joan Shi.

Mr Chung said that Wellington has a $40 million budget to try to resolve this issue, and also to keep the city safe.

Mr Tiefenbacher said there is room in the Wellington City Council’s budget to “help with homelessness and there needs to be even more work done in unison with central government”.

Ms Shi said the Wellington City Council currently lacks the capacity to manage social housing effectively, as this responsibility is more appropriately handled by the central government.

The three candidates made several additional comments about the issue and its relevance.

Three out of four mayoral candidates for Hutt and Upper Hutt responded to the archdiocesan agency questions on local responses to housing need. For Porirua City, one out of the two mayoral candidates responded. In Kapiti District, both mayoral candidates responded.

The survey results for the five authorities were tabulated in a report along with the mayoral candidate responses.

“Let us pray we may look after one another, and that we may all have warm, dry and safe homes,” stated a Wellington Archdiocese Facebook post.

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Wellington Councils and Homelessness September 2025 FINAL (Archdiocese of Wellington)

Facebook (Archdiocese of Wellington)