Wellington, March 10 NZPA - A scheme aiming to improve Housing New Zealand's role in assisting the public into housing is being implemented in parts of the country today following a trial.

The "options and advice" service was piloted in eight Housing NZ neighbourhood units for six months.

Acting Housing Minister Maurice Williamson said the department could not house everyone who walked through its doors, but it could do more to assist them.

"Options and Advice is about being smart by joining people up with other government and non-government services or the private rental sector to provide them with a broader suite of options than just state housing," Mr Williamson said.

He said customers would get information about state housing, private rental housing, government assistance available to help sustain their current housing situation, and services available to help with home ownership.

He said closer ties had been forged with Work and Income and private rental agents to develop packaged options for customers.

Labour Party MP Moana Mackey raised concerns late last year about how advice was being dished out to some people using the Options and Advice service.

She said today the concept was a good one, but everyone who used it needed to have a needs assessment evaluation done or it could be ineffective.

Ms Mackey said she was aware of people who had used the service in Auckland who were likely to have been eligible to get a state house relatively quickly, but had not been made aware of that.

"They are kind of being pushed out the door, given new landlords' numbers and a few addresses, and it seems that all it's doing is keeping them off the waiting list," she told NZPA.

Giving advice with little idea of an individual's circumstances was a concern, and new migrants or people with language difficulties were not often aware of what sort of service Housing NZ provided. "It could so easily be fixed by ensuring everyone gets a needs assessment done," Ms Mackey said.

The first phase of the service will be rolled out in 18 neighbourhood housing units from Invercargill to Whangarei before two more roll-outs starting April 7 and May 5.