Stories by Sharon Brettkelly

The Building Minister says affordability is "headed in the right direction" despite the council's inability to give exact figures. Audio

An Auckland community housing developer is furious a plan to build hundreds of houses in Manukau has collapsed at the last minute after the council rejected its offer.

The number of people registered as urgently needing housing has doubled in the past two years. Audio

A large Auckland agency has been acccused of price gouging after it hiked rents on vacant apartments "five percent a week, week on week" in February.

A single mother on minimum wage says changes announced in yesterday's budget would only make a small difference to her life.

The government's new infrastructure fund falls short of what is needed to help councils pay for more toilets and carparks, a tourism leader says.

Tourism operators want to be able to build their own tracks and huts in national parks.

Two Auckland racecourses will be hosting hundreds of campervans full of Lions rugby fans to help the city cope for the country's biggest sporting event since the Rugby World Cup.

A series of videos has been launched to get more public backing for trade after thousands of people marched against the controversial Trans Pacific Partnership deal last year. Video

Asylum seekers are resorting to sleeping in cars or on the streets in Auckland, a support group says.

Emergency housing providers are warning more families will be sleeping in cars, parks and garages in Auckland this winter because of a desperate shortage of cheap accommodation.

An upgraded free trade deal between China and New Zealand was on the menu at a gala lunch in honour of the Chinese Premier today.

An Auckland iwi has accused the Labour Party of being condescending over a bill that would allow it to build 300 houses on a reserve.

A video of a young Auckland woman in a zombie state and vomiting after apparently taking a synthetic drug has been viewed more than a million times on Facebook.

Australian community housing providers are eyeing up one of New Zealand's largest social housing projects for purchase.

Low-wage workers in Queenstown face another year of crowded houses and shared beds after a major project to provide short-term cheap rentals failed.

Residents of a block of Auckland flats are in emergency accommodation after water gushed into the building during yesterday's massive storm. Video

A Wanaka man whose business is thriving says the booming property market has shut him out and he will have to commute for more than two hours to a house he can afford to buy.

Disability groups are calling for new laws making it easier for disabled people to work and study, saying it would boost the economy by nearly $900 million a year.

"People look at everything blackened, with no smoke, and they think it's all over - it's not," says a helicopter pilot fighting the Christchurch fires.

A man forced to flee his home in Christchurch's fire-ravaged Port Hills has seen devastated remains for the first time.

Auckland Council is promising to fast track more building inspections after long delays last year as it struggled to cope with the construction boom.

Local representatives in east Auckland have joined opposition to a 300-house development planned for reserve land.

The father of a six-year-old potentially exposed to contaminated water at a South Auckland dental clinic is furious families were not alerted sooner. Video

Auckland's housing market is showing more signs of cooling, with values dropping in many suburbs in the last three months.