Anthony Collingwood didn't know how true his words would prove to be when he abused former Blue Chip boss Mark Bryers at the Auckland District Court. "I hope you feel good putting me out in the street, boy..."

A judge has told the state housing agency it was "not helpful" to evict a vulnerable tenant who had nowhere to go.

A sickness beneficiary acquitted of money laundering and methamphetamine charges this week after a lengthy trial has been evicted from his taxpayer-subsidised state home.

One in five children is overweight; one in 12 is obese, and kids in urban areas are walking to school less.

Children are living in tiny, damp and sometimes squalid boarding houses, while Housing NZ staff are discouraging people who are seeking help from formally registering their need, saying they have no business interfering.

Timaru has grown by 20 per cent as 7000 traumatised quake survivors shift down.

English confident of return to surplus, but spending limits will have to stay.

A man who rescued two of his children from a house fire last night was lucky to escape with only burns to his hand, the Fire Service says.

State house tenants would face eviction if a review decided they no longer needed public housing, under a proposed Govt plan.

The Govt has opened its first 'simple house', its answer to streamlining the design and build process for first-time buyers.

The Government hopes it will be able to give thousands of Canterbury property owners in the worst earthquake-hit areas some idea of what the future holds by the middle of next week.