West Coast police say a real "upswing" in methamphetamine or P-related incidents has been noted across the region in the past 18 months.

A new housing ventilation scheme aims to improve the state of housing for rental properties.

Mt Albert residents are questioning the speed of Housing New Zealand's plans for its Asquith Ave site.

Entrenched government disquiet with current urban planning practice is behind a further Productivity Commission inquiry into regulation of urban land.

Forging political consensus on the housing affordability challenge is an elusive task at best, reports Alexander Speirs.

The fall-out from the hot Auckland housing market has created contrasting impressions on the latest Mayoral Scorecard. The housing impact sits at the top and bottom of the rankings.

The government should be allowed to force local authorities to release land for urban development, says the latest work from the Productivity Commission.

Having lived a life on the streets, Sue Henry believes in the right to a home. She's been fighting for state housing tenants since the 1980s.

You can make a standard KiwiSaver first-home withdrawal without the additional top-up from the HomeStart grant. Helen Twose talks about the rules.

An Auckland woman who says her damp and mouldy state house caused her boy's medical woes has been offered alternative temporary accommodation.

More than 2000 state houses have been upgraded after a coroner found damp and cold conditions may have contributed to a South Auckland toddler's death.

People on the state house waiting list who turn down houses offered to them will be moved down the list, says the government.

"I think it goes against the New Zealand way when you target one ethnic group and say they're the problem, " says Housing Minister Nick Smith.

One of NZ's biggest off-site housing manufacturers is now in liquidation, but creditors have hope of getting paid.

Nearly half of the state houses assessed in a warrant of fitness trial were classed as "high risk" and in need of urgent repair, a new report shows.

A long-term contract to inspect all state houses for potential risks to health and safety was axed the year before two Auckland tenants died last winter.

Protected views of volcanoes are threatening Auckland's goals of affordable housing and a compact city, major property owners say.

New legislation, tabled in Parliament today, is designed to facilitate National's plan to sell up to 8000 state houses to community providers.

An Australian housing provider that is considering buying state houses here could use any money generated on projects across the Ditch, Prime Minister John Key says.

If Housing NZ has its way, no one will be able to easily say 'that's state housing' - see its latest plans for new Auckland homes.

Labour leader Andrew Little says there is no rational explanation for the Government's allowing an Australian housing provider to buy up to 500 state houses as part of housing reforms.

Families in urgent need of a state house are waiting twice as long compared to 18 months ago, Labour says.

Anger is building about the poor condition of rental properties in New Zealand writes Dr Bryce Edwards.

A Whangarei woman with chronic asthma was admitted to intensive care at least four times while living in a mouldy, damp Housing New Zealand property.

Just over two years ago, Housing Minister Nick Smith announced that "this year" the Government was developing a housing warrant of fitness, writes Brian Rudman.

Housing Minister Nick Smith has defended the quality of state houses following the death of a Housing New Zealand tenant from pneumonia.

You'd be surprised just how hard it is to find a family willing to let a Herald writer snoop around their home and ask all sorts of intrusive questions about their substandard living conditions, writes Peter Calder.

Cold, damp housing is a significant issue facing children, with a paediatrician calling for more to be done to change the culture of accepting unfit houses.