Affordability and housing costs
Compare rents, purchase costs and housing costs relative to incomes, with attention to household type, location, tenure and measure definitions.
Policy area · housing
A secure place
to call home.
Review housing policy and public action over roughly 2006–2026 through the outcomes that matter to people: affordability, availability, quality, stability and access to suitable homes in the places they need them.
Assessment status: Insufficient evidence. This framework does not yet assign responsibility for housing trends or rate the impact of any policy.
What this page will assess
Supply and access
Track dwelling supply, planning and infrastructure constraints, social and affordable housing provision, and access relative to need.
Quality, suitability and security
Consider habitability, crowding, accessibility, tenure security and homelessness using consistent measures and lived experience.
Delivery and distribution
Examine who could access programmes, where homes were delivered, delivery times and costs, and how results varied between communities.
Actions and outcomes to document
Record the mechanisms each policy used and follow the chain from rules and funding to homes, access and household outcomes.
- Planning, land and infrastructureDocument regulatory changes, enabling infrastructure, implementation responsibilities and changes in housing capacity or delivery.
- Public, social and affordable housingTrack targets, appropriations, acquisitions and completed homes; distinguish gross delivery from net additions and compare with stated need.
- Rental and owner-occupier settingsDescribe policy changes and intended effects, then assess distributional outcomes without treating broad market movements as proof of policy causation.
- Homelessness, quality and supportFollow service and housing initiatives through to coverage, stability and wellbeing for people facing the greatest housing insecurity.
Evidence to consult
Use official housing statistics and programme-level delivery records, with clear reporting periods and definitions.
- Ministry of Housing and Urban Development
- Stats NZ
- Kāinga Ora
- The Treasury
- Office of the Auditor-General
Housing outcomes reflect interacting factors. Separate observed trends, policy intent and evaluated policy effects, and disclose limitations in the evidence.