Farm paddocks are not there to sprout houses, Franklin Local Board chairman Andy Baker told a meeting to wrap up the new planning rulebook for the city this morning.

A new heritage rule that controls the demolition of pre-1944 houses has got the nod from the Auckland Council.

Labour has accused Housing Minister Nick Smith of owing $10,800 in rent for "squatting" in a ministerial house after he resigned as a minister.

A heavy burden rests on Nathan Marsters' young shoulders - but finding a place for his grieving family to live is no longer one of them.

New rules for KiwiSaver subsidies to help people buy their first homes will help middle-class couples but will knock out lower-income families.

Papakura couple Junior and Kim Sipeli have missed out on a $10,000 gift from the Government because they bought their first house two months too soon.

Housing New Zealand says its heritage Symonds St Flats in central Auckland have leaks and all 34 tenants must leave to allow repairs or refurbishment.

Social housing providers are objecting to Government plans to review all social housing tenancies every three years including homes run by private providers.

Video footage of chaotic scenes at an Auckland housing protest in which Mana Party leader Hone Harawira was arrested last year has been played to a court.

Calls of "shame" greeted Housing Minister Nick Smith when he arrived in Glen Innes to launch a redevelopment plan for the Tamaki area.

As a teenager growing up in Wellington I was captivated by the exploits of Peter Blake and his Ceramco New Zealand crew in the Whitbread race.

Cold and damp conditions are adding to health problems, including pneumonia and tuberculosis, faced by residents of overcrowded homes.

Guaranteed rent is not enough to tempt landlords to lease their properties to Housing New Zealand, an investors' association says.

About 3000 long-term state house tenants will be moved out into the private housing market under a surprise Budget move to put all existing tenants on fixed-term contracts.

The Government has agreed to develop a warrant of fitness scheme to require rental housing to be warm, dry and safe.

Pastor Kafeba Mundele and his family may be pushed out of their state house because he earns too much money - but his income may be halved in September.

Housing New Zealand has been criticised for outbidding first-home buyers at auctions. The state housing provider was among four groups of bidders on a two-bedroom property in West Auckland.

A state house with 19 people living in it has been identified as one of the homes receiving more than $100,000 in taxpayer-funded benefits each year.

A heartbroken family have received an apology from Housing New New Zealand after being told the day after their mother's funeral that they had to move out.

A formerly state house-dominated street in Sandringham is set for major redevelopment after seven large sections were sold to a developer for more than $8 million.

Two-storey townhouses and stand-alone houses expected to sell from $400,000 to $700,000 have been unveiled in the first stage of redeveloping 156 Housing NZ sites in Glen Innes.

A block of state housing land for sale in Sandringham is ripe for a townhouse development that could net a developer $28 million, a property expert has predicted.