There's been a few changes to KiwiSaver affecting first home buyers - and it's mostly good news.

Getting a state house is currently just a "lottery" for tenants, Social Housing Minister Paula Bennett says.

Housing NZ has had to take on more staff just to distribute new home subsidy grants to keep up with demand.

Mt Albert residents who feared an 80-unit Housing NZ scheme in their neighbourhood have been told of much smaller plans.

A big state-owned site in Auckland once earmarked for social and affordable housing is being carved up for sale.

If the likes of the Salvation Army cannot afford to buy cut-price state houses, it seems improbable that any other social services agency is in a position to do so.

This week, Finance Minister Bill English was dealt a blow by the Salvation Army, which rejected his suggestion it buy Housing New Zealand stock.

The Salvation Army says it felt pressured into carrying out expensive, time-consuming research on buying unwanted state houses because the Government repeatedly referred to the charity as a likely buyer.

Bill English says he is not surprised that the Salvation Army has decided against buying state houses from the Government.

The country's most expensive state house is being sold to local iwi, almost three years after a tenant was turfed out for benefit fraud.

The receiver of the country's largest off-site house manufacturer is optimistic about selling it after 25 parties made their interest known.

Landlords have hit back at Reserve Bank consultation on their sector, threatening to punish tenants by hiking rents if a tougher lending regime is ushered in.

If you want a state house with a view, forget it. Beautiful views are banned in a draft new Government policy. Double garages and decks are out, too.

Former MP Hone Harawira has been called in to try to ease tensions in Glen Innes after a rock was thrown at a removal man trying to move a state house out of the area last year.

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.

Try as it might, National has been unable to reframe this particular debate, writes John Armstrong. It's handicapped by the sheer complexity of its housing plan.

A charity tagged as a likely buyer of state houses says it is reviewing its involvement unless it can get either more capital from the Govt or a very low price for the houses.

Leading Maori tribes are lobbying to get first bidding rights for state houses when they start going up for sale this year.

Housing NZ Corporation has released the first image of its controversial new Meadowbank project, saying it has employed a top architectural practice to design the properties.

It is difficult to erase the suspicion that the social housing policy is motivated by ideology as much as anything else, writes John Armstrong.

John Key grew up in a state house in Christchurch, and many residents of his old street say they're disappointed at his plans for state houses.

National’s plan to sell off state houses will drive up rents for all renters, Labour leader Andrew Little says.

In his first major speech of the year, John Key is expected to outline what his government will do with the supply of social housing stock.

The strength of Nick Smith's language in his savaging of the RMA prompted immediate concern in the environmental lobby he was trying to manufacture a crisis where there wasn't one.

Auckland Council is targeting its 1400 pensioner housing tenants to help solve its financial squeeze through an average 20 per cent rent increase.

The number of people sleeping rough in Auckland's streets and parks has more than doubled as the city's housing crisis deepens.

The Government's Auckland Housing Accord aims to relieve the city's desperate housing shortage with 39,000 new homes, but only 350 residences have so far been built.

Mt Albert residents have upped the ante in their opposition to Housing New Zealand's plans for a Special Housing Area in their suburb.