Almost 1,000 Pasifika mothers experience psychological distress because of housing issues, most of them in South Auckland, a housing study has found.
More than half of the nearly 1000 mothers interviewed for the AUT study reported a significant major housing problem such as cold homes, inadequate size and cost.
But it was the condition of the house and presence of pests which triggered the worst psychological distress.
"It's unsurprising those who had poorer housing conditions tended to have poorer mental wellbeing. Overcrowding and also cold, damp housing is something that a lot of our families are experiencing," said Dr El-Shadan Tautolo of AUT Centre for Pacific Health.
Twenty-seven per cent of the mothers reported living in houses too small for their needs.
More than a quarter of Pacific families live in households of more than seven people, often because different family groups are living together in order to save on rent and other costs.
Dr Tautolo's housing research is an offshoot of a wider longitudinal study which has followed 1300 Pasifika children and their mothers for the last 17 years.
"It's really important in terms of looking at changes and trends over time," he said.
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