Housing

Links to our reports, articles, blog posts, and published letters about housing and housing agencies.
Cover image - Dec 14, 2021 Inquiry into the Ministry of Social Development’s funding of private rental properties for emergency housing

December 2021: In 2020, issues were raised about the Ministry of Social Development's use of private rental properties as emergency housing. These included issues about the quality of some of the private rental properties, the amount that the Ministry paid for the rental properties, and the impact on the long-term rental market of using private rental properties as emergency housing. We carried out an inquiry into these matters.

Cover image - Jun 30, 2021 Housing and urban development: The challenges and our interest

June 2021: We outline some of the challenges in housing and urban development, how the “system” works and who does what, and our interest in the housing sector. We also summarise housing-related advice we gave to the Social Services and Community Committee in February 2021.

Cover image - Aug 04, 2020 Using information to improve public housing services

July 2020: For this follow-up report we looked at how Kāinga Ora, the Ministry of Social Development, and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development have responded to the recommendations in our 2017 report.

Cover image - Dec 18, 2017 Using information to improve social housing services

December 2017: People who need social housing can be some of the most vulnerable in our society. A significant proportion require social services, including for medical, mental health, and addiction conditions. It is important for Housing New Zealand to have a good understanding of tenants' needs and its role in supporting them. This report looks at how well Housing New Zealand uses information to manage tenancies, maintain houses, and manage and invest in new and existing social housing.

Cover image - Nov 30, 2015 Earthquake Commission: Managing the Canterbury Home Repair Programme - follow-up audit

December 2015: EQC has continued to manage some things well. These include the management of actual repair costs, the management of health and safety, securing reinsurance, and high levels of surveyed customer satisfaction with the quality of repairs immediately on completion of the repairs. Despite the improvements made, EQC could still learn better from complaints and improve its customer focus and interactions.

Cover image - Oct 15, 2015 Queenstown Lakes District Council: Managing a conflict of interest in a proposed special housing area

October 2015: We found that the chief executive’s involvement did not influence or contribute to any substantive aspects of the Council’s policy for special housing areas. The Mayor and Council took appropriate steps to manage the conflict of interest. The chief executive took no part in recommendations or decisions about special housing areas after declaring his interest. We also found that the conflict affected the chief executive’s ability to advise the Council about special housing areas and provide leadership to council staff in this area.

Cover image - Apr 30, 2015 Auckland Council: How it deals with building consents

April 2015: Overall, Auckland Council is performing its responsibilities as a building consent authority reasonably well. Its internal quality assurance procedures are sound, with systems and technical audits carried out routinely. It has a good standard of internal reporting of workflows and how well it meets targets...

Cover image - Nov 04, 2013 Earthquake Commission: Managing the Canterbury Home Repair Programme

October 2013: In our view, the Earthquake Commission's (EQC) performance to date has been mixed. It has performed well in managing repair costs and setting the home-repair programme up quickly, but has not performed as well in dealing with homeowners. Although efficiency is clearly important, this report is a timely reminder for EQC and others that being in the public service means serving the needs of people ...

Cover image - Aug 08, 2013 Using development contributions and financial contributions to fund local authorities’ growth-related assets

August 2013: In their long-term plans, local authorities set out their forecast growth, proposed land use, and the infrastructure that might be needed in at least the next 10 years. We have reviewed how five local authorities use “growth charges”, such as development contributions and financial contributions, to fund the assets that they will need for the growth that they expect ...

Cover image - Sep 06, 2011 Government planning and support for housing on Māori land

September 2011: We examined the effectiveness of government support for Māori seeking to build housing on their land. We found that, despite good intentions, the process to build a house on Māori land is fraught. Lessons have not been learned from past attempts, so the initiatives are not effectively targeted and the processes are not streamlined...