Housing / Building, buying and renting

How should housing policy change?

House prices have eased since 2021. Parties differ on public homes, rents and property tax.Cotality puts the typical home at 6.7 times household income in mid-2026, its long-term average and down from 9.8 in late 2021; the median rent Trade Me recorded was $625 a week in August 2026. Kāinga Ora and community housing providers run about 87,000 government-funded social homes, and 19,002 applicants were waiting on the Housing Register at 30 June 2026. Since 2023 the Government has replaced the RMA, set housing growth targets for councils, cut Kāinga Ora's building and funded community providers, restored landlords' interest deductions, brought back no-cause tenancy terminations and decided to raise social housing rents from 25% to 30% of income from April 2027. Parties differ on who builds social homes, planning rules and growth infrastructure, help for first-home buyers, rents and renters' rights, and tax on property.

Uneven evidence. Some parties' plans have more published costings or analysis than others. Read what was found

As at 18 October 2026, no independent costing of any party's housing plan was found, and no independent body was found to have compared all parties' plans. Published overviews come from a property investment adviser (realestate.co.nz), which leaves out Te Pāti Māori, saying it "hasn't released an official housing policy", although the party's housing page and January 2026 release set one out; a mortgage adviser (MyMortgage), which leaves out Opportunity; and housing writer Rosie Gallen, who covers all seven (Gallen). The Taxpayers' Union has costed the Greens' public homes, and the Government's own Budget figures cover National's record. The land tax and capital gains tax have older official analysis that predates the parties' plans; no independent evaluation of first-home loan or shared ownership schemes was found. Te Pāti Māori's manifesto housing section could not be opened, so its details come from the party's releases and one housing writer's account. Evidence sections reflect what has been published, not a judgement on the plans.

ViewDepth

Party order is random for each visitor. Tap a party's answer for its full breakdown and sources.Order

Bottom lines on this question

What a party has publicly said it must get, or won't accept, to form or support a government after the election. Only the party's own statements count, quoted with their source. Parties marked Bottom line below have one on that answer.

No bottom line on this question found: ACT, Green, Labour, National, NZ First, Opportunity, Te Pāti Māori (checked 17 Oct 2026)

Every party's bottom lines, on all issues

This question is split into smaller ones. Under each, parties giving the same answer are grouped together.

Public and community housing

5 of 7 parties give an answer

Government builds more public homes4 parties

Green
Tens of thousands of public homes; the party says 35,000 is possible in five years.The policy document says "In the next 5 years, we could build 35,000 new public homes", using prefabrication and long-term building contracts.
Labour
$2.9 billion for Kāinga Ora; Labour says 6,000 more social housing places.Labour says the $2.9 billion of capital goes to Kāinga Ora, with operating money for rent subsidies and running costs at Kāinga Ora and community providers, paid from future Budget allowances.
Opportunity
Direct Kāinga Ora to build the mix of homes each region needs; no number given.The policy says this is so smaller towns can clear their housing waitlists; it does not say how many homes Kāinga Ora would build.
Te Pāti Māori
More public housing investment, with half of new social homes for whānau Māori.Its January 2026 list includes "Radically increasing public housing investment" and allocating 50% of new social housing builds to whānau Māori; no number of public homes was found.

Fund community and Māori housing providers5 parties

Green
Long-term funding and finance for councils, community providers and papakāinga on Māori land.Councils and community housing providers would get long-term funding and financing to scale up public housing, and Whai Kāinga Whai Oranga would fund more Māori housing.
Labour
Raise the Crown guarantee on community housing bonds to $950 million.From its first Budget in 2027, which Labour says would cut providers' borrowing costs by about half a percentage point, alongside reliable funding so providers can plan ahead.
National
From its record, a contestable Flexible Fund replaced a ring-fenced Māori housing fund.Budget 2024 funded 1,500 places through community housing providers, $200 million was brought forward for Māori housing, and Budget 2026 put $69.2 million into the contestable Flexible Fund, which replaced a ring-fenced Māori housing fund, for 1,800 to 2,250 more homes from 2028/29.
Opportunity
Crown development finance for councils, community housing providers, iwi and builders.The Community Housing lending facility would be expanded for affordable or social housing tailored to local needs, and GST refunds to councils would also fund community housing.
Te Pāti Māori
2,000 homes on papakāinga and direct funding for iwi and Māori housing providers.Its 2026 releases list building 2,000 houses on papakāinga and direct funding to iwi and Māori housing providers; Rosie Gallen reports the manifesto gives four years for the 2,000.

Not part of its policy: ACT, NZ First

Planning, building and infrastructure

6 of 7 parties give an answer

Make planning and building rules easier5 parties

ACT
Exclude "purely spiritual and religious effects" from consenting, and ban required karakia.ACT would rule out refusing, restricting or adding conditions to a consent on a claim of spiritual harm alone, and would stop consents requiring what it calls a religious observance, such as karakia.
Green
Planning law to allow more homes near transport; councils must enable enough housing.Councils would have to enable enough new housing to meet demand, including in existing urban areas, and barriers to Māori building on their own land would be removed.
National
From its record, laws to replace the RMA, council growth targets, consent-free granny flats.The Planning and Natural Environment bills passed in September 2026; National's 2026 plan would implement them and let engineers sign off some commercial building work.
Opportunity
Ten national planning zones and national pre-approval of proven prefabricated building systems.The zones would build on the Planning Bill with protections for productive farmland and heritage, councils could not ask for extra design reviews of certified systems, and Unit Titles Act changes would allow co-housing and papakāinga.
Te Pāti Māori
Make it easier to build homes on Māori and ancestral land.Its housing page says it would make it easier to build homes on Māori and ancestral land; the sources read do not say which rules would change.

Change how growth infrastructure is required or paid for3 parties

National
From its record, development levies planned and $400 million for councils per home consented.Bishop and Simon Watts decided in February 2025 to replace development contributions with levies, in a bill due in early 2027; payments to councils start on 1 April 2027.
NZ First
Require roads, pipes and water to be in place before fast-track housing is approved.Developers would have to show the infrastructure exists, is funded and can be delivered, new housing panels could decline projects, and the immigration policy would allow major population growth only where infrastructure exists or is funded.
Opportunity
Refund GST to councils on new builds meeting set standards, ring-fenced for infrastructure.The refund would apply to builds meeting standards such as Homestar 6+ or Passive House, and the party's infrastructure policy would also give councils grants and value capture tools.

Not part of its policy: Labour

First-home buyers

1 of 7 parties give an answer

Help first-home buyers1 party

National
Raise the First Home Loan income cap to $300,000 for every buyer.More buyers could borrow with a 5% deposit through the Kāinga Ora scheme; National puts the cost at $4–6 million, from existing budgets.

Not part of its policy: ACT, Green, Labour, NZ First, Opportunity, Te Pāti Māori

Renters

5 of 7 parties give an answer

National

Raise rents

None

Current law

GreenLabourTe Pāti Māori

Limit rent rises

Which way each party would move this from current law. It doesn't show how far, or which is better.

Raise rents1 party

National
From its record, social housing rents rise from 25% to 30% of income from 2027.Bishop and Louise Upston announced the change in Budget 2026, about $31 a week more on average for about 84,000 households, alongside higher Accommodation Supplement maximums.

Limit rent rises3 parties

Green
Rent rises capped at 2% a year, new tenancies tied to the last rent.A Renters' Rights Bill would cap annual rent increases at no more than 2% and link a new tenancy's rent to what the previous tenants paid.
Labour
Keep social housing rents at 25% of income, not the Government's planned 30%.Labour would retain current income-related rent settings for Kāinga Ora and community housing tenants, and has ruled out increasing the Accommodation Supplement as a substitute.
Te Pāti Māori
Universal rent control; reported as a rent freeze, then limits on rises.Its January 2026 list includes "universal rent control"; Rosie Gallen reports the manifesto proposes "a rent freeze followed by limits on increases", with no level found in the sources read.

Strengthen renters' rights or rental standards3 parties

Green
End no-cause terminations, certified Rental Warrant of Fitness, and a national landlord register.Tenants would get longer-term security without no-cause terminations, and rentals would need an independently certified warrant of fitness on top of stronger Healthy Homes Standards.
Opportunity
Raise Healthy Homes standards for rentals over time; extend insulation grants to rentals.Rental standards would rise over time, including a right to charge EVs, and Warmer Kiwi Homes retrofits would cover eligible private rentals.
Te Pāti Māori
Repeal "no cause evictions".Its January 2026 list includes "repealing no cause evictions", which landlords can now use on periodic tenancies with 90 days' notice.

Not part of its policy: ACT, NZ First

Tax on property

6 of 7 parties give an answer

ACT

Tax less

National

Current law

GreenLabourOpportunityTe Pāti Māori

Tax more

Which way each party would move this from current law. It doesn't show how far, or which is better.

Tax less1 party

ACT
End loss ring-fencing so landlords can set rental losses against other income.This lowers tax for landlords whose rentals make a loss; ACT's fiscal plan has "no new taxes", and Seymour says a capital gains tax "will hit people hard".

Keep current property taxes1 party

National
No new taxes, so no capital gains tax; landlords' interest deductions restored.National has committed to no new taxes if re-elected; in government it restored interest deductibility and returned the bright-line test to two years.

Tax more4 parties

Green
No mortgage interest deductions for landlords; 10-year bright-line test; wealth tax over $10m.Landlords could not deduct mortgage interest, investment homes sold within 10 years would be taxed, and property would count toward a 2.5% tax on net wealth over $10 million.
Labour
28% tax on investment and commercial property gains after 1 July 2027.Labour says the family home and farms would be exempt and the revenue would go to health; it would make no further change to landlords' interest deductions.
Opportunity
A yearly land value tax of 1.75% on urban land and 0.5% on rural land.Part of the wider Tax Reset that funds a Citizen's Income; it covers owner-occupied homes, with deferral for superannuitants and exemptions including social housing and communally owned Māori land.
Te Pāti Māori
5% stamp duty on home sales, 2% vacant-house tax, 33% land-banking tax.From its tax plan, which exempts first-home buyers of homes under $1 million from the stamp duty; Rosie Gallen reports the manifesto would also repeal landlords' interest deductibility.

Not part of its policy: NZ First

Each party's whole answer, under the same headings for every party.

ACT

End landlords' loss ring-fencing; "exclude purely spiritual and religious effects" from consenting.ACT would end loss ring-fencing, the rule that stops landlords using rental losses to cut tax on their other income. Losses from the day the change takes effect could be offset; ACT says this would ease pressure on rents. It puts the cost at $264 million in year one, rising to $303 million in year four, inside a fiscal plan with "no new taxes". ACT would also "Exclude purely spiritual and religious effects from consenting" and "Ban compulsory religious observances in consent conditions". The biggest tradeoff: ACT says ending ring-fencing would ease pressure on rents, but it reduces government revenue and ACT has not estimated extra homes or lower rents; the consent change would stop consents requiring karakia, which ACT says developers must pay for, and would remove spiritual effects as a ground for decisions.

Public and community housing: Not part of its policy
Planning, building and infrastructure: Make planning and building rules easier. Exclude "purely spiritual and religious effects" from consenting, and ban required karakia.ACT would rule out refusing, restricting or adding conditions to a consent on a claim of spiritual harm alone, and would stop consents requiring what it calls a religious observance, such as karakia.
First-home buyers: Not part of its policy
Renters: Not part of its policy
Tax on property: Tax less. End loss ring-fencing so landlords can set rental losses against other income.This lowers tax for landlords whose rentals make a loss; ACT's fiscal plan has "no new taxes", and Seymour says a capital gains tax "will hit people hard".

Green

Tens of thousands of public homes, 2% rent rise cap, and no landlord interest deductions.The Greens would build "tens of thousands" of public homes, fund councils, community housing providers and papakāinga on Māori land, and require councils to enable enough new housing, including in existing urban areas. Rent rises would be capped at 2% a year, with a new tenancy's rent tied to the previous rent, no-cause terminations would end, and rentals would need an independently certified warrant of fitness. Landlords could no longer deduct mortgage interest, investment homes sold within 10 years would be taxed, and property would count toward a 2.5% tax on net wealth over $10 million. The biggest tradeoff: the party says renters would get capped rents and more public homes, while landlords with mortgages would pay more tax; ACT says rent caps would mean fewer rentals, and the party has published no cost for the public homes.

Public and community housing: Government builds more public homes. Tens of thousands of public homes; the party says 35,000 is possible in five years.The policy document says "In the next 5 years, we could build 35,000 new public homes", using prefabrication and long-term building contracts.; Fund community and Māori housing providers. Long-term funding and finance for councils, community providers and papakāinga on Māori land.Councils and community housing providers would get long-term funding and financing to scale up public housing, and Whai Kāinga Whai Oranga would fund more Māori housing.
Planning, building and infrastructure: Make planning and building rules easier. Planning law to allow more homes near transport; councils must enable enough housing.Councils would have to enable enough new housing to meet demand, including in existing urban areas, and barriers to Māori building on their own land would be removed.
First-home buyers: Not part of its policy
Renters: Limit rent rises. Rent rises capped at 2% a year, new tenancies tied to the last rent.A Renters' Rights Bill would cap annual rent increases at no more than 2% and link a new tenancy's rent to what the previous tenants paid.; Strengthen renters' rights or rental standards. End no-cause terminations, certified Rental Warrant of Fitness, and a national landlord register.Tenants would get longer-term security without no-cause terminations, and rentals would need an independently certified warrant of fitness on top of stronger Healthy Homes Standards.
Tax on property: Tax more. No mortgage interest deductions for landlords; 10-year bright-line test; wealth tax over $10m.Landlords could not deduct mortgage interest, investment homes sold within 10 years would be taxed, and property would count toward a 2.5% tax on net wealth over $10 million.

Labour

Give Kāinga Ora $2.9 billion for state houses, back community housing loans, tax property gains.Labour would give Kāinga Ora $2.9 billion over four years for state houses, and says Kāinga Ora and community housing providers would deliver at least 6,000 more social housing places. It would raise the Crown guarantee on community housing bonds to $950 million, which it says would cut providers' borrowing costs. It would keep social housing rents at 25% instead of the Government's planned rise to 30%. Labour says it opposed the return of no-cause terminations and "pledged to fix it", but has published no details. The biggest tradeoff: Labour says the state houses would be paid from future Budget allowances, but has not said how keeping rents at 25% would be funded; a 28% capital gains tax on investment and commercial property gains after 1 July 2027 would fund health; Labour says the tax would have little effect on rents, and National says it would reduce rental supply.

Public and community housing: Government builds more public homes. $2.9 billion for Kāinga Ora; Labour says 6,000 more social housing places.Labour says the $2.9 billion of capital goes to Kāinga Ora, with operating money for rent subsidies and running costs at Kāinga Ora and community providers, paid from future Budget allowances.; Fund community and Māori housing providers. Raise the Crown guarantee on community housing bonds to $950 million.From its first Budget in 2027, which Labour says would cut providers' borrowing costs by about half a percentage point, alongside reliable funding so providers can plan ahead.
Planning, building and infrastructure: Not part of its policy
First-home buyers: Not part of its policy
Renters: Limit rent rises. Keep social housing rents at 25% of income, not the Government's planned 30%.Labour would retain current income-related rent settings for Kāinga Ora and community housing tenants, and has ruled out increasing the Accommodation Supplement as a substitute.
Tax on property: Tax more. 28% tax on investment and commercial property gains after 1 July 2027.Labour says the family home and farms would be exempt and the revenue would go to health; it would make no further change to landlords' interest deductions.

National

Wider 5% deposit loans, no new taxes; from its record, RMA replacement laws passed.National's 2026 housing policy would raise the First Home Loan income cap, which lets buyers borrow with a 5% deposit through Kāinga Ora, to $300,000 for all applicants. It has promised no new taxes. From its record, its ministers passed RMA replacement laws, set council growth targets, allowed consent-free granny flats and plan development levies. Kāinga Ora's building was cut to about 1,500 new homes a year; ministers credit its turnaround plan and cost control with a $9.5 billion cut in forecast peak debt. A contestable fund replaced a ring-fenced Māori fund. Ministers restored landlords' interest deductions and no-cause terminations, and will raise social rents to 30% of income. The biggest tradeoff: more buyers on higher incomes could use 5% deposits, which National puts at $4–6 million and says helps people who can afford a mortgage but not a 20% deposit; critics say it adds demand without adding homes.

Public and community housing: Fund community and Māori housing providers. From its record, a contestable Flexible Fund replaced a ring-fenced Māori housing fund.Budget 2024 funded 1,500 places through community housing providers, $200 million was brought forward for Māori housing, and Budget 2026 put $69.2 million into the contestable Flexible Fund, which replaced a ring-fenced Māori housing fund, for 1,800 to 2,250 more homes from 2028/29.
Planning, building and infrastructure: Make planning and building rules easier. From its record, laws to replace the RMA, council growth targets, consent-free granny flats.The Planning and Natural Environment bills passed in September 2026; National's 2026 plan would implement them and let engineers sign off some commercial building work.; Change how growth infrastructure is required or paid for. From its record, development levies planned and $400 million for councils per home consented.Bishop and Simon Watts decided in February 2025 to replace development contributions with levies, in a bill due in early 2027; payments to councils start on 1 April 2027.
First-home buyers: Help first-home buyers. Raise the First Home Loan income cap to $300,000 for every buyer.More buyers could borrow with a 5% deposit through the Kāinga Ora scheme; National puts the cost at $4–6 million, from existing budgets.
Renters: Raise rents. From its record, social housing rents rise from 25% to 30% of income from 2027.Bishop and Louise Upston announced the change in Budget 2026, about $31 a week more on average for about 84,000 households, alongside higher Accommodation Supplement maximums.
Tax on property: Keep current property taxes. No new taxes, so no capital gains tax; landlords' interest deductions restored.National has committed to no new taxes if re-elected; in government it restored interest deductibility and returned the bright-line test to two years.

NZ First

Require roads, pipes and water to be in place before fast-track housing is approved.NZ First would change fast-track law so housing developments are approved only after the roads, pipes, water, wastewater and other services they need are approved. Developers would have to show the infrastructure exists, is funded and can be delivered; councils would advise on network capacity; new expert panels for housing could decline projects; listed projects that have not applied by the end of 2028 would lose priority access; and the Minister for Housing would make housing referral decisions. NZ First has not published a cost, a start date or who would pay for infrastructure that is missing. The biggest tradeoff: NZ First says making funded infrastructure a condition of approval would protect existing communities from unfunded growth costs; National's Chris Bishop says the requirement is already in law, and Waatea's Matthew Tukaki warns of possible barriers for Māori housing developments.

Public and community housing: Not part of its policy
Planning, building and infrastructure: Change how growth infrastructure is required or paid for. Require roads, pipes and water to be in place before fast-track housing is approved.Developers would have to show the infrastructure exists, is funded and can be delivered, new housing panels could decline projects, and the immigration policy would allow major population growth only where infrastructure exists or is funded.
First-home buyers: Not part of its policy
Renters: Not part of its policy
Tax on property: Not part of its policy

Opportunity

Ten national planning zones, Crown development finance, and a yearly land tax.Opportunity would replace what it says are over 1,000 planning zones with 10 national ones, pre-approve prefabricated systems, and change the Unit Titles Act to allow co-housing and papakāinga. Councils would get back GST on new builds meeting standards such as Homestar 6+ for infrastructure and community housing; councils, community housing providers, iwi and builders would get Crown development finance; Kāinga Ora would build to regional needs; and rental standards would rise. Its wider Tax Reset would tax urban land, homes included, at 1.75% a year to help fund a $19,400 Citizen's Income; the party projects property prices would fall 10 to 15%. The housing measures are not costed. The biggest tradeoff: the party says a land tax would lower prices, and that the Citizen's Income would leave most homeowning households better off; critics say owners, homeowners included, would bear a fall in land value and a yearly bill.

Public and community housing: Government builds more public homes. Direct Kāinga Ora to build the mix of homes each region needs; no number given.The policy says this is so smaller towns can clear their housing waitlists; it does not say how many homes Kāinga Ora would build.; Fund community and Māori housing providers. Crown development finance for councils, community housing providers, iwi and builders.The Community Housing lending facility would be expanded for affordable or social housing tailored to local needs, and GST refunds to councils would also fund community housing.
Planning, building and infrastructure: Make planning and building rules easier. Ten national planning zones and national pre-approval of proven prefabricated building systems.The zones would build on the Planning Bill with protections for productive farmland and heritage, councils could not ask for extra design reviews of certified systems, and Unit Titles Act changes would allow co-housing and papakāinga.; Change how growth infrastructure is required or paid for. Refund GST to councils on new builds meeting set standards, ring-fenced for infrastructure.The refund would apply to builds meeting standards such as Homestar 6+ or Passive House, and the party's infrastructure policy would also give councils grants and value capture tools.
First-home buyers: Not part of its policy
Renters: Strengthen renters' rights or rental standards. Raise Healthy Homes standards for rentals over time; extend insulation grants to rentals.Rental standards would rise over time, including a right to charge EVs, and Warmer Kiwi Homes retrofits would cover eligible private rentals.
Tax on property: Tax more. A yearly land value tax of 1.75% on urban land and 0.5% on rural land.Part of the wider Tax Reset that funds a Citizen's Income; it covers owner-occupied homes, with deferral for superannuitants and exemptions including social housing and communally owned Māori land.

Te Pāti Māori

More public and papakāinga homes, rent control, and taxes on property sales and empty homes.Te Pāti Māori would increase public housing investment, fund iwi and Māori housing providers, build 2,000 homes on papakāinga (whānau housing on Māori land) and make building on Māori land easier. For renters it lists "universal rent control" and "repealing no cause evictions". Its tax plan adds a 5% stamp duty on residential sales (first-home buyers of homes under $1 million exempt), a 2% vacant-house tax and a 33% land-banking tax, with revenue going to housing and other services. No cost or start date for the housing measures was found. The biggest tradeoff: the party says half of new social homes would go to whānau Māori, who it says make up half the waitlist, and that its property taxes would help fund housing; housing writer Rosie Gallen says the allocation does not itself add homes, and Deloitte, citing Inland Revenue, says stamp duties raise modest, volatile revenue and discourage moving.

Public and community housing: Government builds more public homes. More public housing investment, with half of new social homes for whānau Māori.Its January 2026 list includes "Radically increasing public housing investment" and allocating 50% of new social housing builds to whānau Māori; no number of public homes was found.; Fund community and Māori housing providers. 2,000 homes on papakāinga and direct funding for iwi and Māori housing providers.Its 2026 releases list building 2,000 houses on papakāinga and direct funding to iwi and Māori housing providers; Rosie Gallen reports the manifesto gives four years for the 2,000.
Planning, building and infrastructure: Make planning and building rules easier. Make it easier to build homes on Māori and ancestral land.Its housing page says it would make it easier to build homes on Māori and ancestral land; the sources read do not say which rules would change.
First-home buyers: Not part of its policy
Renters: Limit rent rises. Universal rent control; reported as a rent freeze, then limits on rises.Its January 2026 list includes "universal rent control"; Rosie Gallen reports the manifesto proposes "a rent freeze followed by limits on increases", with no level found in the sources read.; Strengthen renters' rights or rental standards. Repeal "no cause evictions".Its January 2026 list includes "repealing no cause evictions", which landlords can now use on periodic tenancies with 90 days' notice.
Tax on property: Tax more. 5% stamp duty on home sales, 2% vacant-house tax, 33% land-banking tax.From its tax plan, which exempts first-home buyers of homes under $1 million from the stamp duty; Rosie Gallen reports the manifesto would also repeal landlords' interest deductibility.

Background and sources

Prices and rents. Cotality's affordability report put the national value-to-income ratio at 6.7 in the second quarter of 2026, "matching its long-term average", down from a peak of 9.8 in late 2021, with median rents taking 25.5% of household income (Cotality). REINZ's national median selling price was $755,000 in September 2026, down 2.3% on a year earlier (interest.co.nz). Trade Me's median advertised rent was $625 a week in August 2026, up $5 on a year earlier (Trade Me). At the 2023 Census, 66.0% of households owned their home or held it in a family trust, up from 64.5% in 2018 (Stats NZ). In the year to August 2026, 41,268 new homes were consented, up 21.1% on the year before (interest.co.nz).

Social housing. The Infrastructure Commission counts "roughly 87,000 government-funded social housing places, around 73,000 owned by Kāinga Ora and 14,000 owned by CHPs" (community housing providers) (Te Waihanga). Official counts differ by source and definition (interest.co.nz). At 30 June 2026 there were 19,002 applicants on the Housing Register, people assessed as eligible who are not yet in public housing, and 5,094 on the Transfer Register, people already in public housing who need to move (MSD; MSD). 438 households were in emergency housing at the end of September 2026 (MSD), against 3,141 in December 2023, the baseline for the Government's target of 75% fewer (DPMC); the Audit Office found that from July to September 2025, 37.7% of applications for emergency housing were declined, and said more needs to be known about what happens to people turned down (The Audit Office).

What the Government has done since 2023. Housing Minister Chris Bishop's Going for Housing Growth programme requires the larger councils to zone for 30 years of housing demand (Beehive), and the Planning Bill and Natural Environment Bill, which replace the RMA, passed their third reading in September 2026, with the new system to be fully in place by 2030 (MCERT). Since early 2026, small standalone homes of up to 70 square metres built by authorised professionals need no building consent (1News). Development contributions are to be replaced by development levies, which councils could charge from 2029 (interest.co.nz), and Budget 2026 set aside $400 million over four years to pay councils for each new home consented (Budget 2026). Kāinga Ora's turnaround plan, from February 2025, has it build about 1,500 new homes a year from 2026/27 and sell about 900 older homes a year (Beehive), and new social homes are now funded mainly through a contestable Flexible Fund open to community housing providers, iwi and Māori providers (Beehive). The First Home Grant closed to new applications in 2024 (1News). Since 30 January 2025 landlords can end a periodic tenancy with no cause on 90 days' notice (Tenancy Services). In Budget 2026, Chris Bishop and Louise Upston announced that social housing tenants' minimum income-related rent would rise from 25% to 30% of income from 1 April 2027, about $31 a week more on average for about 84,000 households (Beehive). A 2024 tax law passed under Finance Minister Nicola Willis restored landlords' interest deductions, to 100% from 1 April 2025, and since 1 July 2024 the bright-line test taxes gains on residential property sold within two years (Beehive; Inland Revenue; Inland Revenue). Inland Revenue estimated that restoring interest deductibility would cost $2,920 million over the forecast period to 2027/28, and reported Treasury's view that "the bulk of the impact from restoring interest deductibility is likely to be reflected in house prices, with minimal impacts on rents" in the short and medium term (Inland Revenue). Since 2 July 2026, national standards permit papakāinga of up to 10 homes on Māori ancestral land in most rural, residential and Māori purpose zones (Ministry for the Environment). Each decision's minister is named in the entries; under this site's rule, a decision counts as a party's position only when its own ministers made it.

What research says about the main levers. None of these studies assesses a party's 2026 plan. Studies of Auckland's 2016 upzoning by Ryan Greenaway-McGrevy and colleagues found "strong evidence that upzoning stimulated construction" (Journal of Urban Economics) and, in a 2024 working paper, that rents would have been about 28% higher without it (University of Auckland); economists Cameron Murray and Tim Helm dispute the method and say "There is no evidence that upzoning increased housing construction" (Fresh Economic Thinking). In a 2022 survey of 44 New Zealand Association of Economists members, about 80% disagreed that rent controls such as New York City's had had a positive impact on the amount and quality of affordable rental housing, and about 7% agreed (NZAE). This is indirect evidence: the question was about rent control like New York City's, not a cap on annual rises. In 2019 the Tax Working Group's majority, by 8 to 3, recommended taxing capital gains on "all land and buildings, business assets, intangible property and shares", estimating it would "raise roughly $8 billion over the first five years", while three members preferred taxing only residential rental property (Tax Working Group); it expected "some small upward pressure on rents and downward pressure on house prices" (OneRoof). A 2009 Inland Revenue and Treasury paper cited an estimate that a 1% land tax would cut land values by 16.7% (Inland Revenue and Treasury).

Other pages. Labour's capital gains tax would pay for free GP visits, compared on the GP costs page. The Greens' wealth tax, Opportunity's Citizen's Income and Te Pāti Māori's tax plan are compared on the income tax page, and KiwiSaver first-home withdrawals on the KiwiSaver page. This page covers what those taxes do to property.