Large sums of money are being handed over to moteliers to cover damages caused by emergency housing clients - officials aren't keeping track of what's being spent - and can't put a total figure on it.
That's "not ideal", admits Social Development minister Carmel Sepuloni, who wants a system that can better monitor those costs and the damage being caused.
Demand just keeps escalating, but hair-raising stories continue to roll in about what life is like for some tenants and moteliers, who're recounting stories of crime and gang harassment, being confronted with knives and in one case a room burnt to the ground.
Around $900,000 is being spent on emergency housing each day - but that just covers the accommodation grants.
Political editor Jane Patterson spoke to Corin Dann.
