Hamilton Christian Night Shelter manager Peter Humphreys says not only is the PM wrong, there's no data that could back the claim that homelessness is almost eliminated in the city.

Bill English's claim that homelessness has almost been eliminated in Hamilton has been disputed by social service providers.

Those working daily to house and feed the homeless say the problem is only getting worse, by any measure.

In an interview with RNZ's Morning Report on Monday morning, Prime Minister Bill English gave Hamilton as an example of progress made resolving homelessness.

TOM LEE/STUFF After an interview on RNZ, Prime Minister Bill English was in Hamilton on Monday to officially open the Rototuna High Schools $9.2m Rototuna indoor recreation centre, The Peak.

"Here's a fact. In Hamilton homelessness has almost been eliminated by dealing with the people on the street one by one and the complexity of their problems."

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Similar measures had placed 150 people in housing in Auckland in the last four months, he said.

"I can see a time when homelessness is rare in New Zealand, if we're smart about it."

In December 2016, Stuff reported that almost all rough sleepers in Hamilton - 78 out of 80 - had been taken off the streets.

This was as a result of The People's Project, which launched in 2014. In two years, the project has helped more than 800 people.

Rough sleepers make up about 5 per cent of Hamilton's homeless population.

English said on Monday that National would have a very good go at "virtually" eliminating people sleeping rough on the street if given a fourth term.

Hamilton Christian Night Shelter manager Peter Humphreys said homelessness has not been solved, and is unsure what English is talking about.

"​There's no data, there's never been any stats from Hamilton … the rough side of this is really an unknown, and always has been."

The shelter - which doesn't receive central government funding - has 25 beds for men and nine for women.

The men's beds have been at full capacity in the past three months, and Humphreys has turned people away - six people for the first time.

He knows of eight rough sleepers in Hamilton currently, but guesses there are probably more then 15.

This number hasn't changed since he opened the shelter in 2008, he said.

Catherine Hodges, director of Hamilton's Methodist City Action, laughed in response to English's claim that homelessness was almost resolved.

"No. I could name eight 'homeless homeless' people and a whole pile of others that are sleeping in cars.

"There are more people living in cars that are coming from hotel accommodation."

The government spent $12.6 million on 11,446 emergency grants across the country for seven-day motel stays in the three months to July 2017.

"That's only temporary shelter, that's not a home. You've got a hell of a lot of kids living in that situation, who we're aware are not in school, because the parents don't want to cause further disruption by up-rooting them if they get housing."

The issues that cause homelessness are becoming more and more complicated, she said.

"There's a lot of people that just aren't seen. We don't want to see them because they make us uncomfortable.

"How hard that must be, if you were un-noticed in your community."