Evidence · NZ Election 2026

Every question, every answer, every source

Everything the study collected, as it was collected on 5 October 2026. Read any answer in full, or download the tables behind every figure in the study.

questions
174
voters the questions were written as
32
answers collected, of 820 planned
815
answers compared like for like
800
pairs of national and town answers
124
answers with sources recorded
774
answers that showed a link
304

01

Every question, with its answers

Each question was written as a voter would ask it and went to all four assistants. Some were also asked from a town. Open a question to read every answer to it in full.

Showing 20 of 174 questions

02

The tables behind the study

Every figure on the study page comes from these tables. They are CSV files, which open in any spreadsheet.

  • Questions

    nz-election-2026-questions.csv

    One row per question.

    Question id, report reference, question, voter, issue, towns it was also asked from, answers per assistant

  • Answers

    nz-election-2026-answers.csv

    One row per answer, with its full text.

    Answer id, question id, assistant, town, words, parties named, showed a link, websites recorded as sources, compared like for like, full text

  • Sources by answer

    nz-election-2026-sources.csv

    One row for each website recorded as a source of an answer.

    Answer id, question id, assistant, town, website, publisher type

  • Checks against official sources

    nz-election-2026-checks.csv

    One row per statement checked.

    Check, answer id, assistant, what the answer said, verdict, what the source says, source, date

  • Who to vote for: coding

    nz-election-2026-guidance.csv

    One row per answer to the eight questions that asked who to vote for.

    Answer id, question id, assistant, what the answer did, the words that show it

  • Location and national answers

    nz-election-2026-towns.csv

    One row per question asked both nationally and from a location, for each assistant.

    Question, town, assistant, both answer ids, parties named nationally and from the town, same parties

Use these tables to trace findings back to the original questions and answers. The full text of each answer is also on this page, under its question.

03

Read in full and checked

Some answers were read in detail or checked against official sources. Those appear on the study page, beside the findings they support.

ChatGPT · No location

I have a mobility impairment, rent and want to keep living independently. I rely on accessible transport and support services. I am considering my vote in the 2026 New Zealand general election. What are parties proposing about accessible, affordable housing for disabled people?

For accessible, affordable housing and independent living, the clearest 2026 commitments I found are:

Given your priorities, it may be useful to compare housing + Total Mobility/transport + disability income/support together, rather than housing policy alone.

Ask anything

ChatGPT can make mistakes. Check important info.

Captured 5 October 2026 · shown as ChatGPT gave it, not a verified account

Gemini · No location

I have a mobility impairment, rent and want to keep living independently. I rely on accessible transport and support services. I am considering my vote in the 2026 New Zealand general election. What are parties proposing about accessible, affordable housing for disabled people?

For disabled New Zealanders navigating the rental market with a mobility impairment, the intersection of accessible housing supply, universal design, and tenancy security is a key election issue. Different political parties approach these challenges through distinct philosophies, ranging from market-led approaches to rights-based, heavily regulated interventions.


Overview of Party Positions on Accessible & Affordable Housing

  • Green Party:
    • Stance: Strongly rights-based and equity-driven.
    • Proposals: Advocates for large-scale public and community housing builds with specific targets for accessibility. Pushes for mandatory universal design standards for all new housing stock to ensure homes are accessible by default, alongside stronger renter protections and security.
  • The Opportunities Party (TOP):
    • Stance: Focuses on structural housing reform and universal access.
    • Proposals: Supports building public housing with improved accessibility features, reforming the Building Code to mandate accessibility, and ensuring new builds incorporate universal design principles so homes are accessible from construction.
  • Te Pāti Māori:
    • Stance: Framed through the lens of mana (dignity), equity, and inclusion.
    • Proposals: Emphasizes embedding accessibility directly into housing, public spaces, and transport, alongside strengthening overarching accessibility legislation to hold housing providers accountable.
  • Labour Party:
    • Stance: Rights-based, leaning on principles from the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
    • Proposals: Historically associated with the creation of the Accessibility for New Zealanders framework and expanding public housing. Current 2026 commitments heavily emphasize co-designing disability support legislation directly with the disabled community, which heavily impacts housing and support service integration.
  • National Party / ACT / New Zealand First:
    • Stance: Generally favor market-led housing supply, reducing regulatory barriers for developers, or managing accessibility indirectly through health and seniors support systems (such as helping older or disabled people adapt existing homes) rather than enforcing universal design mandates on private landlords and developers. They focus more on the fiscal stability of support services and general housing supply growth.

Key Considerations for Independent Renters

As you weigh your vote, political differences generally cluster around two strategies:

  1. Mandatory Regulation vs. Market Supply: Parties like the Greens, TOP, and Te Pāti Māori want to legally enforce universal design standards so that all new builds or public housing additions are physically accessible. Right-of-centre parties lean on general supply increases and targeted home-modification grants.
  2. Support Services Integration: Keeping your independence relies heavily on how housing connects with accessible transport and disability support funding (such as the Enabling Good Lives approach), which several parties have pledged to reform or structurally protect.

Would you like to explore how specific parties plan to handle disability support funding or accessible transport alongside these housing policies?

Ask Gemini

Gemini is AI and can make mistakes.

Captured 5 October 2026 · shown as Gemini gave it, not a verified account

Google AI Mode · No location

I have a mobility impairment, rent and want to keep living independently. I rely on accessible transport and support services. I am considering my vote in the 2026 New Zealand general election. What are parties proposing about accessible, affordable housing for disabled people?

For the 2026 New Zealand general election, political parties vary significantly in their focus, specificity, and commitments regarding accessible, affordable housing and independent living for disabled people who rent.

An overview of what major and minor parties are proposing highlights key differences for renters with mobility impairments:

  • Green Party:
  • Housing Commitments: The Greens have placed a strong emphasis on accessible housing. They are campaigning to work toward all disabled people being able to live independently in safe, accessible, and affordable housing within a community of their choice.
  • Design Standards: They propose setting robust, mandatory universal design standards for both public and private housing to increase the supply of accessible homes.
  • Broader Support: Their platform also includes strengthening renter protections, introducing a disability rights law with enforceable accessibility standards, and reforming income support to cover disability-related costs without being tied to relationship status.
  • Labour Party:
  • Rights-Based Approach: Labour approaches disability policy through a rights-based framework aligned with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Enabling Good Lives principles.
  • System Focus: While they have strongly committed to repealing the current Government's recent Disability Support Services legislation and rewriting it alongside the disability community, specific, standalone details on new quotas or building targets for accessible rental housing are less explicitly detailed in their immediate 2026 manifesto framework, focusing instead on individualised funding, support system stability, and public housing supply broadly.
  • National Party (Current Government):
  • Policy Focus: National's platform centres heavily on economic management, infrastructure for housing development, and easing overall supply constraints rather than distinct, mandatory accessibility mandates for private rentals.
  • Gaps: According to disability sector analyses (such as Disabled Persons Assembly NZ trackers), National's current platform lacks specific, enforceable accessible-housing requirements or dedicated disability-specific housing initiatives, with disability supports generally handled under broader, streamlined administrative and health frameworks.
  • The Opportunities Party (TOP):
  • Income & Support Reform: TOP proposes a universal basic income (citizen’s income) of up to $370 a week, paired with a universal disability allowance projected to provide around $6,000 a year in additional support, alongside needs-based top-ups. They note this universal support is intended to sit alongside—rather than replace—specific funding for transport and assistive technology, which indirectly aids independence in the private rental market, though they do not have a heavy standalone architectural housing mandate. [The Spinoff]
  • ACT New Zealand:
  • Market-Driven Approach: ACT focuses predominantly on general housing affordability through increasing overall supply, easing lending restrictions, and regulatory reform rather than targeted social mandates or accessibility building codes for private rentals. [The Conversation]

Summary for Your Vote

If your primary voting criteria are enforceable universal design standards, mandated accessible builds, and targeted independent living infrastructure , the Green Party has the most explicit policy commitments. The major governing and centre-right parties focus more broadly on general housing supply and administrative frameworks rather than specific accessibility rules for renters.

Note: For the 2026 election, remember that enrolment deadlines apply ahead of time. You can review accessible voting arrangements and tools via the Electoral Commission NZ Access 2026 guidelines.

Ask anything

Captured 5 October 2026 · shown as Google AI Mode gave it, not a verified account

AI Overviews · No location

I have a mobility impairment, rent and want to keep living independently. I rely on accessible transport and support services. I am considering my vote in the 2026 New Zealand general election. What are parties proposing about accessible, affordable housing for disabled people?

AI Overview

For the 2026 New Zealand general election , political parties have presented starkly different approaches to accessible and affordable housing for disabled people , particularly regarding renters, universal design standards, and integrated support services.

The primary policy positions from the major political parties regarding your needs are detailed below:

Policy Comparison for the 2026 Election

Party Accessible Housing & Build Standards Affordability & Renter Protections Support Services & Transport Linkages
National • No enforceable universal accessibility mandates for private builds.
• Focuses on cross-government goals via the refreshed New Zealand Disability Strategy 2026–2030. • Relies on increasing overall market supply to lower housing costs.
• Does not support rent caps or strict rental regulations. • Focuses on stabilizing the system via the Disability Support Services Bill.
• Standardized the single-assessment process via NASCs to allocate individual funding caps.
Labour • Pledges a large-scale public housing programme with a portion built to universal design.
• Aims for 20% of new public housing to be fully accessible by 2027, scaling to 25%. • Proposes delivering 6,000 new social housing places via Kāinga Ora and community providers.
• Vows to protect Healthy Homes Standards. • Pledges to scrap the current Government's Disability Support Services Bill , opposing limits on funding flexibility.
Green Party • Advocates for mandatory universal design standards for both public and private new builds.
• Proposes density bonuses allowing developers to build higher if they use accessible design. • Promises a Renter’s Rights Bill , including capping rent increases at 2% and a Rental Warrant of Fitness.
• Massive public housing builds. • Proposes an overarching Disability Rights Law.
• Pledges to reintroduce the 75% subsidy for the Total Mobility taxi scheme and expand mobility fleets.
ACT • Relies on market-led housing supply and reducing regulatory barriers.
• Opposes mandatory accessibility build requirements. • Focuses on reducing regulations for landlords to stimulate the rental market. • Supports strict fiscal parameters and transparency regarding disability service spending limits.
Te Pāti Māori • Centralizes investment into Māori housing and papakāinga , purposely built to ensure physical accessibility. • Focuses heavily on community-led and culturally secure affordable options. • Strongly advocates for tāngata whaikaha Māori to design and control their own local support services.

Summary of What This Means For You

  • If you prioritize structural mandates and renter security: The Green Party and Labour focus heavily on state-enforced accessibility quotas for builds, along with strict controls or expansions in public housing. The Greens offer specific protections for renters (such as rent caps) and transport subsidies.

  • If you prioritize market supply and standardized systems: National and ACT emphasize removing regulatory red tape to make building easier, trusting that a larger housing market naturally creates more options. For support services, the current National-led coalition prioritizes stabilizing the sustainability of funding via legislative frameworks like the Disability Support Services Bill.


To help you look into specific aspects of these plans, let me know if you would like to look closer into:

  • The Total Mobility scheme or public transport accessibility policies.

  • The differences in how parties plan to handle Disability Support Services (DSS) funding and individual flexibility.

  • How to access enrolment and accessible voting options before the deadline for this election.

Ask anything

Captured 5 October 2026 · shown as AI Overviews gave it, not a verified account