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New Zealanders once took pride in being a resilient “do-it-yourself” (DIY) people. Working city fathers, like mine, would spend much of their weekends working on their houses, gardens, fruit trees or sheds. Read more
Right now, Auckland Council’s zoning allows people to build about a million shops selling tasty pies. Tomorrow, someone could buy or lease a commercially-zoned site near you and turn it into a shop selling pies. Read more
Last week's headlines suggested another wobble in housing reform. Signals from the Prime Minister about easing Auckland's intensification settings appeared to undercut Housing Minister Chris Bishop. Read more
This concluding episode examines what it takes for housing reform to endure. Minister Chris Bishop reflects on his journey to Competitive Urban Land Markets (CLM) and why housing affordability is best understood as a problem of land supply. Read more
In this episode, Eric, Nick and Benno talk about the Government's proposal to abolish regional councillors while retaining regional councils, shifting governance to new Combined Territories Boards made up of local mayors. They explore how this reform creates space for mayors to rethink regional governance through a function-by-function approach, potentially establishing purpose-built agencies for issues like water catchments and transport that cross council boundaries. Read more
The opening episode traces the intellectual and personal journey that gave birth to the idea of "Competitive Urban Land Markets" (CLM). It follows Chris Parker’s path from his early attempt at NZIER to broaden traditional cost–benefit models so they could capture the transformative effects of infrastructure investment, to his move into Auckland Council as Chief Economist, where he began to see high land prices not as signs of prosperity but as symptoms of monopoly and institutional failure. Read more
Kerre Woodham discussed our report "Owning Less to Achieve More" on Newstalk ZB, which advocates for housing vouchers instead of state-owned housing. Woodham endorsed the report's findings that government housing vouchers would empower vulnerable tenants by giving them choice in landlords, whilst highlighting the report's criticism of Kāinga Ora's high maintenance costs and inefficient management. Read more
Wellington (Thursday, 16 October 2025) - Why does the government need to continue owning or managing more than 77,000 housing units, given its poor track record in this area, especially when state assistance can be provided without extensive government ownership? And why does it not release more land for housing? Read more
Dr Bryce Wilkinson talked to Ryan Bridge on Newstalk ZB about his report finding that operating Kainga Ora's 77,000 state houses costs twice as much as the private sector. He argued for transferring state housing to community housing providers or tenants themselves, citing international examples and emphasising the need to empower tenants with more housing options. Read more
Mike Hosking discussedour new report on Newstalk ZB with Rt Hon Sir Bill English, who contributed the foreword to the report, which finds that Kāinga Ora's 77,000 homes cost taxpayers twice as much as the private sector and advocates for greater tenant choice of landlord. Sir Bill, who previously led the independent review of Kāinga Ora, explained that smaller-scale housing providers of around 5,000 homes demonstrate better economies of scale and tenant outcomes than Kāinga Ora's centralised model. Read more