Homeless man Nick has been begging and sleeping rough on the capital's streets for nearly two months.

Beggars are increasingly choosing to move to Wellington because its residents are seen as generous.

That contrasts markedly with how Wellingtonians see beggars: 75 per cent of them perceive begging on the street to be "a bit of a problem" or worse.

As begging increases in the city, Wellington City Council has commissioned strategic design consultancy ThinkPlace to compile a $50,000 report on beggars, with the aim of finding what it calls "a sustainable solution".

It follows the $40,000 it spent in 2013 on the "alternative giving campaign", which asked the public not to give money to beggars, but instead to donate spare change or online funds to services that could help people on the streets.

Council community services manager Jenny Rains said that campaign "went well" but did not change the behaviour of "generous Wellingtonians", so the latest initiative was another way of looking at the problem.

ThinkPlace service designer Ben McCarthy said begging was on the rise in central Wellington and the "understanding beggars initiative" would look at the relationship between retailers, residents and beggars.

Some beggars were opportunists who specifically targeted Wellington, he said.

"Wellington is seen as a good place to beg because people are seen as generous, it has good social services and beggars are not forced out by legislation."

The $50,000 report was prompted by "concerning results" from the council's biennial Quality of Life survey last year.

It showed three-quarters of people living in Wellington were worried about begging, compared with only 24 per cent in Christchurch, 26 per cent in Dunedin, and 28 per cent in Lower Hutt.

Businesses have been leading the way in demanding action from the council.

First Retail Group managing director Chris Wilkinson said retailers were mindful there was a real need among some beggars, but also a degree of opportunism.

When shoppers avoided an area because of beggars, it hit business, livelihoods and employment, he said. "It is time for council to act decisively."

The ThinkPlace report is expected to be completed before January and brought to council in April to consider actions and solutions.

Possible solutions attempted elsewhere included a bylaw to ban begging. City councillor Simon Marsh said that was an option to consider, but he was not keen on it.

If a bylaw was introduced in the central city, beggars might go to other places such as Kilbirnie, which already had problems with beggars.

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Rains said the council would look at ways to address "the prevalence of people in the street who need help".

"A bylaw has not been effective elsewhere, so they may look at creating more activities and services."

Wellington City Mission chief executive Michelle Branney said begging was becoming more visible in the city. Many beggars had homes and were on benefits, but it was not enough.

Sometimes money was not the solution. She advised talking to individual beggars and asking about their stories to see if something more sustainable and practical could be done to help them.

Wellington area commander Inspector Chris Bensemann said police worked closely with the council on the issue of "vagrants".

BEGGAR'S MECCA?

Nick has been begging on the streets for about two months with no benefit.

He ended up in Wellington after his 10-year-old son lost a five-year battle with cancer, and he lost his job as a machinist in Christchurch.

After cleaning up the drugs and alcohol, he was promised a job in Wellington, which fell through, and he says he has been sleeping rough while a social agency tries to get him into a flat.

About $30 a day will feed him and his two dogs and he says he won't solicit for more money once he has what he needs. On Thursday, he got nothing.

Not all Wellingtonians were generous, but those that were gave freely, he said.

"There are a lot of people out there who do give and are generous, I'm not knocking them. Are Wellingtonians generous? Yes and no."