The owners of a house for sale in West Auckland have taken open-plan living to a new level, inserting an "en suite" complete with toilet into a bedroom, with no dividing walls.

Tony Gapes is set to take back control of New Zealand's most intensive affordable housing project after receivers last night confirmed the property developer has settled a company debt.

A proposed agreement between local and central Government will pave the way for an extra 7000 homes to be built in Wellington over the next five years.

Wayne Young became a casualty of the leaky homes crisis after an apartment he bought in 1999. When he disputed the repair bill, legal costs forced him into bankruptcy.

A 20ha block of land at Hobsonville set aside for the marine industry will now be used for housing after a vote by Auckland councillors today.

The Government is winding down its home insulation programme as part of Budget cuts leaving 600,000 homes across New Zealand uninsulated, Labour says.

Aspiring first-home buyers looking for a leg-up into the property market in yesterday's Budget had little to cheer about.

Gains in hospitality and consumables offset falling apparel purchases, as an accelerating economy continues to underpin household confidence.

Building consents for residential housing rose to a six-and-a-half year high in March, snapping two months of decline.

Franchisees at the country's biggest house builder remain dissatisfied with Auckland Council, despite claims of more speed and efficiency.

New Zealand building consents for residential housing fell 1.7 percent in February, the second straight monthly decline.

Around $47,000 could be shaved off the cost of each new place built in factories under Labour's planned KiwiBuild 100,000-house scheme, an opposition spokesman says.

New Zealanders spent more on their credit and debit cards in February, fuelled by spending on hospitality

Building activity slowed in the final three months of 2013 as non-residential work dropped for a second quarter.

New Zealand building consents for residential housing rose 7.6% in December, taking the annual level of new permits to a six-year high.

A boost in new apartment consents led to an 11 per cent rise in the number of new dwellings consented in November 2013, according to Statistics NZ.

The house-building sector's rising fortunes have taken a tumble, with the latest Statistics New Zealand data showing the rate of increase slipping.

The first batch of `special housing areas' in Auckland, which will bring 6000 new sections onto the market, have been revealed today.

New mortgage lending restrictions could cause a dramatic reduction in the number of houses built each year and put many small construction firms out of business, the Registered Master Builders Federation says.

Auckland house building activity is rising but unemployment remains high.

Auckland has lost 4 per cent of its most fertile rural land to housing over the past two decades and is set to lose more under the strain of a million more residents.

Risks to the financial system posed by an overheated housing market may be greater now than they were in the leadup to the global financial crisis, says Grant Spencer.

The country's biggest house builder has opened four new franchises and will build almost 1000 new houses in the year to next March.