A couple who took out a Master Builders guarantee and paid more than $500,000 in progress payments on their new home are in danger of getting nothing back after their builder went under - because they paid too much in advance.

Aucklanders are now able to go online and discover how their own home and neighbourhoods are affected by the new masterplan, writes Brian Rudman.

A property developer who has copped flak for proposed apartments at Milford hopes Auckland's Unitary Plan will provide more certainty.

A closely-watched insurance battle is expected to wrap up at the High Court in Christchurch today.

The Government is becoming increasingly heavy-handed over Auckland's housing shortage, with talk of a new Crown agency to free up more land.

Auckland firms that send engineers and construction staff to Christchurch for the rebuild have just learned their projects are going to be much more expensive.

People signing to build a house are being warned that hiring a Master Builder doesn't mean automatically getting a guarantee.

Echoing demands from Prime Minister John Key that Auckland Council free up farmland for housing development, Dr Smith is vowing "to break through the stranglehold that the existing Metropolitan Urban Limit has on land supplies".

Our building stock could look radically different in the next few years as owners and architects introduce new seismic elements, an expert says.

Kingsland property owner Pam Willis says insurance premiums may reach the point where owners start tearing down commercial buildings.

Mark Simmonds who, with his wife Bronwyn Paul, runs a wedding and event venue in a renovated Edwardian building in Wanganui, can no longer get insurance cover for earthquake damage.

Cantabrians would be helped into driving post-earthquake recovery if Labour returned to Government, party leader David Shearer vowed today.

Challenging a $337,000 payout to repair a Christchurch home by lodging a $900,000 claim means the case will be "impossible to resolve", a court heard today.

The Government is proposing building owners strengthen earthquake-prone buildings within the next 15 years so that by 2028, we will be much safer if another major quake strikes.

Affordability is a huge issue for small businesses and building owners, Mr Gudgeon says. "Strengthening is a cost burden - with no return".

Confusion surrounds the ability of body corporates of leaky buildings to claim GST refunds, as the Inland Revenue seems reluctant to have its decisions in two leading cases stand as precedents.

Home-building consents fell last month as a drop in approvals for apartments offset gains for other types of dwellings

A proposed rewrite of Auckland's tarnished heritage rules leaves power in the hands of unelected officials and shuts out the public.

Former American FBI special agent turned New Zealand DIY hardware chain boss John Hartmann is leaving Mitre 10.

Fletcher Building engineers are assessing Mainzeal Property & Construction sites and the company hopes to finish some of the 40 jobs and employ subcontractors and some members of Mainzeal's 400 staff.

Another company linked to Dame Jenny Shipley is under pressure and may be forced to stop operating by September if it cannot meet new Reserve Bank requirements.

SkyCity asked for taxpayers to pay for the marketing and promotion of the international convention centre, but the Government ruled it out.

SkyCity got special treatment in its pitch to build the international convention centre - but nothing which will get in the way of a formal deal being struck.

If work on Mainzeal Property and Construction's sites is frozen for another six weeks, national construction activity could be depressed by up to 3 per cent, says an economist.

Fletcher Building chief executive Mark Adamson could slice costs by $75 million, as the construction giant tries to pare back spending to bolster its bottom line.

The Government's goal of building 2000 new state houses in two years has been questioned after it was revealed that it had built only 68 homes in the past year.