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.

Salvation Army warn that people at the bottom of the market face not only a shortage of property but rents moving out of their reach.

Some regions will "fail" economically and perhaps socially unless we help them to adjust, the Salvation Army says.

A former head of the Rotorua Salvation Army has admitted a charge of unlawfully behaving in an offensive manner.

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.

A 78-year-old Westport man has been further remanded on bail to appear in the Greymouth District Court in June on charges related to historic sex offending.

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.

100 low-income families were asked what they needed to get out of poverty. Here are their answers.

A young mother and her newborn baby lived in a car for two days after finding themselves homeless when they were discharged from hospital.

A New Zealander who has come home after heading the Salvation Army in Pakistan says prohibition never works, but more restrictions can reduce the harm from drugs and alcohol.

Pacific broadcaster Fa'amatuainu Tino Pereira was the sole non-bureaucrat on a panel that evaluated bids in a controversial tender that axed most of the Problem Gambling Foundation's funding.

Crime is at a 34-year low, incomes and employment are rising and teenage pregnancy has plunged, a new report on the state of our nation shows.

Simon Collins takes a look at the 'state of our nation' report, a stock-take of New Zealand's social trends.

Christmas is meant to be a time of joy but many children around NZ go without. This year one dad has vowed to make a difference, pledging 100 gifts for kids.

Charities are bracing themselves for an influx of more than 40,000 struggling Kiwi families who can't afford to serve Christmas dinner or put presents under the tree this year.

Dionne Christian checks out activities on offer during Auckland's Heritage Festival.

The Salvation Army has bought the Destiny Church complex in the Auckland suburb of Mt Wellington and has its 12-storey building in Queen St up for sale.

Auckland's critical housing shortage worsened again last year - but the gap between population growth and house-building may be closing at last.

Rubbish being dumped outside Salvation Army stores is costing the organisation hundreds of thousands of dollars.