A mother and baby living in a tent at the Wairoa River are being offered assistance by local residents in the second instance this week of families struggling to find homes.

Alisha Renata and her three-year-old son have been living in a one bedroom tent at the edge of Bethlehem while they seek a home through Housing New Zealand.

Alisha Renata and son Pomare have been living in a tent on the Wairoa River.

The 28-year-old from Hastings came to Tauranga after she was kicked out of the family home she shared with her mother.

'I got kicked out of my home in Hastings so I came back here.

'I was staying with family in Rotorua and came over here for a camping trip, and went back and they had booted me out as well.”

'We have been here for the last three or four weeks just waiting for a housing home.”

Having nowhere else to go, Alisha, who is on the Domestic Purposes Benefit, decided to stay on in Tauranga with the hope she will be offered a Housing NZ home in the suburbs. She is now into her third week of camping and says things are getting tough.

'We are covered in sores and things. We are sleeping in a tent, got canvasses around as walls, it's not nice.”

'We had a lady come down yesterday and she took us back to her house to have a bath and gave us some medicine to put on the sores. She is actually a social worker.”

Alisha has registered with Housing NZ but is unsure if she is yet on the waiting list, as she believes HNZ still need to undertake a home inspection.

In the meantime, Alisha says the sister of one of the woman who came to help her has offered her and her son a room in Greerton.

'We are going to check it out.”

Housing NZ today confirmed Alisha has been offered a house after the organisation re-activated an earlier application she made while living in Hastings after hearing from the 28-year-old on January 22.

"She contacted us on 22 January to let us know she had moved to Tauranga and wanted a property there," says HNZ area manager, Teresa Pou.

"We made an appointment Ms Renata for the next day (23 January) and have been trying to get in touch with her since Monday to let her know we have a property available."

Teresa says HNZ could not get hold of Alisha and has only this morning spoken with the mother of one.

Alisha is the second case this week where Housing NZ has been able to source accommodation for families camping at the Wairoa River.

For the last three weeks Alisha has shared a river-side spot with another couple and their five children aged between two and 11-years-old.

The mother, who wanted only to be known as Kylie, says the family are today moving into a four-bedroom Housing NZ home in Welcome Bay.

'We hand over the keys at 1.30pm today. A lot has happened in the last few days it is quite overwhelming, I have an interview for a job today.

'They [Housing NZ] phoned yesterday to ask us to look at a house and by the end of the day it was our house.”

Kylie and her partner, who is not currently working, and five children, have been living in a two-bedroom tent at Bethlehem for the last five weeks using the river and nearby toilet block as amenities.

Originally from up north, Kylie says the family came to Tauranga from Rotorua so that Kylie's partner could get to know his biological family.

The couple applied for a number of rental properties on Trade Me but were unable to secure a home and decided to sign up with Housing NZ.

Housing NZ regional manager Darren Toy says HNZ offered the family the first suitable property to become available.

'We're pleased to have been able to offer Kylie and her family a four-bedroom property.

'The property is the first suitable property we've had available, and has only just become vacant. It needs some repairs, but we're fast-tracking these and hope the family can move in before they are completed.”

The average waiting time for a HNZ property in a high demand city like Tauranga is 45 days, says Darren; and as the family are new to the waiting list, this is a fast turn-around for a placing.

Although HNZ does concede the organisation could have visited the family sooner and has apologised to Kylie for the delay in the home inspection.

'We acknowledge that we could have visited Kylie sooner, and have apologised to her for the delay.

'However, this hasn't had an impact on how quickly we've been able to find a property for her and her family.”

HNZ does not provide emergency accommodation but does work closely with agencies that provide immediate housing services.

There are currently 87 people on the waiting list in Tauranga. This includes 40 Priority A applicants and 47 Priority B applicants.

'There is high demand for Housing New Zealand properties in Tauranga, so it can be difficult to find properties quickly – especially larger properties.”

There are a total of 1353 Housing New Zealand properties in the Western Bay of Plenty region, and six currently being built that will be available for use by May.