The Alliance
Policy
Secure, affordable housing for all New Zealanders
Our position
Housing is a fundamental right, not a speculative asset. The Alliance believes every person in Aotearoa New Zealand deserves a warm, dry, secure home they can afford.
Decades of market-driven housing policy have created a crisis that locks out working families, enriches speculators, and leaves thousands without shelter. We will reverse this through massive public investment, strong tenant protections, and a decisive shift away from treating housing as a commodity.
$780
Median weekly rent in New Zealand, 2025 — up 45% in a decade
What we will do
Concrete commitments to fix the housing crisis — grounded in public ownership, tenant rights, and the belief that housing is a basic right.
Build 50,000 public homes
A massive state-led building programme to construct 50,000 new public housing units over ten years, prioritising areas of greatest need.
Introduce rent controls
Cap annual rent increases to the rate of inflation and establish a national Rent Tribunal to resolve disputes fairly and quickly.
Ban foreign speculators
Close loopholes in foreign buyer restrictions and extend the ban to all residential property purchases by non-resident investors.
Strengthen tenant protections
End no-cause evictions permanently, guarantee secure tenure, and enforce mandatory Healthy Homes standards with real penalties.
End homelessness
Adopt a Housing First approach nationwide, funded by central government, with wraparound support services and emergency housing guarantees.
Tax property speculation
Implement a comprehensive capital gains tax on investment properties and vacant land to discourage speculation and redirect capital into productive investment.
The crisis in numbers
New Zealand's housing crisis is not an accident. It is the predictable result of decades of deregulation, underinvestment in public housing, and policies that treat homes as financial instruments rather than places to live.
Between 2000 and 2025, house prices in New Zealand rose by over 350%, far outstripping wage growth. Home ownership rates have fallen to their lowest level since the 1950s, with an entire generation locked out of the market. Meanwhile, rents consume an ever-larger share of household income, forcing families into overcrowded, substandard, or insecure housing.
The social costs are staggering: children growing up in damp, mouldy homes suffer higher rates of respiratory illness; families forced to move repeatedly see their children's education disrupted; and the stress of housing insecurity takes a devastating toll on mental health. This is a crisis of political choice — and it demands a political solution.
Our plan in detail
Public housing at scale
The Alliance will fund the construction of 50,000 new state houses over ten years through a dedicated Public Housing Investment Fund. These homes will be built to high standards — warm, dry, energy-efficient, and designed for whanau. Construction will be led by a new Ministry of Public Works, creating thousands of well-paid jobs in the trades and apprenticeships across the country.
We will prioritise building in communities where the waitlist is longest and ensure new developments include a mix of housing types — from apartments and townhouses to standalone family homes. All public housing will remain permanently in public ownership, ending the sell-off of state assets that has depleted our housing stock for decades.
Fair rents and secure tenure
No family should face a 20% rent increase at the stroke of a pen. The Alliance will cap annual rent increases at the rate of CPI inflation and establish a national Rent Tribunal with the power to adjudicate disputes, investigate gouging, and set fair market rents for each region.
We will permanently ban no-cause evictions and strengthen the Residential Tenancies Act to guarantee secure, long-term tenure. Tenants will have the right to make their rental a home — including making reasonable modifications, keeping pets, and living without the constant threat of displacement.
"Housing is listed as a basic right in the Alliance Constitution — alongside secure work, free healthcare, and a sustainable environment. It is not optional."
Ending speculation and foreign ownership
Housing should serve people, not portfolios. The Alliance will implement a comprehensive capital gains tax on all residential investment properties, with no exemptions for trusts or corporate structures. We will introduce a progressive land tax on holdings above the family home, incentivising productive use of land rather than passive speculation.
We will close the loopholes in the current foreign buyer ban that allow non-residents to purchase residential property through corporate vehicles, trusts, and residency pathways designed primarily to access the property market. New Zealand homes should be for New Zealanders.
A Housing First approach to homelessness
The evidence is clear: the most effective way to end homelessness is to provide housing first, then wrap support services around people as they stabilise. The Alliance will fund a nationwide Housing First programme, replacing the patchwork of underfunded emergency housing motels with permanent supportive housing.
We will set a national target of functionally ending homelessness within five years, backed by dedicated funding, cross-agency coordination, and accountability mechanisms. Every person deserves a roof over their head — and a government that treats that as non-negotiable.
Together, we can build a fairer Aotearoa New Zealand.
No corporate donors. No hidden agendas. Just people who believe we can do better.
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