A lawsuit against building products maker James Hardie Industries has lost its bid to let potential plaintiffs join after a Dec. 31 cut-off date.

While land can be used more or less efficiently, the supply of well-located sites is fixed and the only response to increasing demand is a price increase, writes Zbigniew Dumienski and Nicholas Ross Smith,

The Council does not build the homes. That is the role of the private development and community housing sectors, writes Ree Anderson.

New Zealand's banking system remains in good health, but heavily indebted dairy sector and heated property market are posing increasing risks to lenders.

Serious weathertightness issues have been found at the popular Eastcliffe Retirement Village in Orakei and repairs to the buildings will cost $12 million and take five years to fix.

Wheeler cited rising consent numbers as a bright spot in the Auckland housing sector when he gave his post-OCR briefing.

An expert report to Auckland Council suggests a huge shortfall in the amount of affordable terraced housing likely to be built over the next 30 years.

Tenants' rights groups have welcomed plans to insulate all rental properties, but nearly 100,000 would be exempt where it was impossible to retro-fit insulation.

Three ministers is not enough, writes Toby Manhire. "To have a hope of slaying the many heads of the housing crisis hydra, there may need to be even more new ministers appointed."

Shoddy buildings are going up in Auckland with workers encountering serious problems and inspection fails at some sites.

The latest round in the Government’s fight to control soaring Auckland house prices has begun in earnest.

Nick Smith has defended his plans to free up crown land in Auckland to build new homes despite claims people could end up living on top of cemeteries.

Desperate home-buyers have resorted to sleeping in cars overnight in the hope of securing one of 12 sections when they go up for sale this morning.

BNZ boss Anthony Healy says he doesn't believe the Auckland property market is entering bubble territory.

The last thing Nick Smith needs is Auckland Council holding the Government to ransom over special housing sites, writes Mike Hosking.

Housing Minister Nick Smith is reminding Auckland Council of Government’s power to override local government if it does not co-operate on speeding up the supply of affordable housing.

A $200 million loan plus ownership of state houses worth $1.2 billion have given the Tamaki Redevelopment Company clear financial clout.

Councils may soon face private sector competition for issuing building consents again, as part of a Government drive to make housing more affordable.

Contestants in Television New Zealand's new hit DIY reality show may face tax bills of many thousands of dollars.

Housing New Zealand has told MPs this morning it could not build state houses any faster even if it was given a blank cheque.

A "ruckus" caused by a 60-year-old state house tenant who refused to move has helped to postpone new housing development in part of Glen Innes.

What took hold of Nick Smith when he claimed the Resource Management Act added $30 billion to housing costs and stopped 40,000 new houses in the past decade?

Property developers say the failure to quickly resolve Auckland's housing crisis is not their fault - lack of infrastructure is one of the biggest impediments to more building.

Auckland's first house-building factory is being planned for Pokeno and could produce components for two-and-a-half houses a day.

Housing Minister Nick Smith and Auckland Mayor Len Brown are talking up the first year of the Auckland Housing Accord.

A plan aimed at tackling Auckland's housing supply shortage has surpassed expectations in its first year, the Government and Auckland Mayor Len Brown say.

Labour's housing spokesman Phil Twyford has raised concerns about anti-competitive building industry practices after the world's second biggest wallboard maker said it was reviewing its structure in New Zealand.