This report is an important building block to help the Government of New Zealand to make housing policy decisions. It assesses the key parts of New Zealand's housing system; examining market renting, homeownership, new housing, state and social housing, housing assistance, homelessness and emergency housing, security of tenure and the social costs and benefits of housing quality.

With homeownership now at a 60-year low and families forced to live in overcrowded houses, it is clear New Zealand’s housing system is failing too many people. That an unknown number of children are living in cars and thousands more are admitted to hospital every year with preventable illnesses caused by poor housing. The Government of New Zealand is committed to fixing the housing crisis.