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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

Show all 174

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

    174rows

    Download questions (CSV)

  • 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

    815rows

    Download answers (CSV)

  • 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

    4,216rows

    Download sources by answer (CSV)

  • 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

    17rows

    Download checks against official sources (CSV)

  • 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

    32rows

    Download who to vote for: coding (CSV)

  • 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

    124rows

    Download location and national answers (CSV)

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'm a Pacific voter in a multigenerational household with children and older relatives. Our main concerns are household costs, enough space and access to healthcare. I am considering my vote in the 2026 New Zealand general election. What would parties do about affordable housing suitable for larger households?

For a multigenerational household, “affordable housing” is not only about the price of a home or rent — it also includes whether homes have enough bedrooms, can accommodate children and older relatives, are accessible, and are near healthcare and services. In the 2026 New Zealand election, parties differ mainly on how they would increase supply, support renters and first-home buyers, and expand or reshape public housing. Policies for Party vote - NZ Election 2026 - Policy.nz

Below is a neutral comparison of the main approaches relevant to a larger household. Policies can change during the campaign, so it is worth checking each party’s final manifesto before voting. Policies for Party vote - NZ Election 2026 - Policy.nz

Party / grouping Approach that could affect larger households
Christopher Luxon’s National-led government Focuses on increasing housing supply, including reforms intended to make it easier to build more homes and expand housing options. The government has also pursued changes to social housing settings, including targeting support toward those with greatest housing need and increasing community housing provision. Delivering fairer social housing | Beehive.govt.nz For a large household, the key question is whether increased supply includes enough larger homes rather than mainly smaller dwellings.
New Zealand Labour Party Labour’s housing approach has generally emphasised public housing investment, affordability measures and government involvement in housing supply. The relevant question for multigenerational families would be how much priority it gives to larger state and affordable homes, and how it would fund those programmes. Policies for Party vote - NZ Election 2026 - Policy.nz
Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand The Greens have supported stronger public and affordable housing provision, renter protections and measures aimed at reducing housing costs. Their housing proposals include increasing affordable housing supply and stronger regulation of housing conditions. Policies for Party vote - NZ Election 2026 - Policy.nz
ACT New Zealand ACT generally emphasises increasing housing supply through reducing barriers to development and relying more on market mechanisms. The relevant consideration for a larger household is whether more overall supply translates into homes with the size and affordability characteristics families need. Policies for Party vote - NZ Election 2026 - Policy.nz
New Zealand First and Te Pāti Māori These parties have distinct housing priorities. Te Pāti Māori has focused strongly on housing issues affecting Māori communities, including whānau housing. New Zealand First has raised issues around housing access and prioritisation. Specific commitments should be checked against their final 2026 policies. Policies for Party vote - NZ Election 2026 - Policy.nz

For a household like yours, useful questions to ask parties are:

  • Bedrooms and design: Will new affordable housing include 3–5 bedroom homes, adaptable homes for older people, and designs suitable for extended families?
  • Location: Will housing be built near GPs, hospitals, schools, public transport and shops?
  • Cost burden: Will policies reduce rent, mortgage, rates, insurance and energy costs — not just house purchase prices?
  • Older relatives: Are there plans for accessible homes, supported living options, or housing that allows ageing relatives to remain close to family?
  • Supply vs affordability: How will parties ensure that building more homes results in homes that lower- and middle-income families can actually afford?

The official election policy comparison site Policy.nz 2026 housing policies allows you to compare parties’ detailed housing positions as they are published. Policies for Party vote - NZ Election 2026 - Policy.nz

If you want, I can also make a Pacific family–focused comparison of the 2026 parties’ positions on housing, healthcare access, and cost of living.

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Gemini · No location

I'm a Pacific voter in a multigenerational household with children and older relatives. Our main concerns are household costs, enough space and access to healthcare. I am considering my vote in the 2026 New Zealand general election. What would parties do about affordable housing suitable for larger households?

Navigating the housing market as a multigenerational Pacific household—balancing the needs of growing children and older relatives—brings unique challenges. You need a home that provides adequate space, is financially sustainable, and sits close to essential health services.

Ahead of the November 2026 New Zealand general election, political parties approach these pressures through different lenses, focusing on housing supply, alternative building models (such as papakāinga and larger configurations), and support for community or public housing.

Key Party Approaches to Housing & Larger Households

  • National and Right-Leaning Parties (e.g., National, ACT):
    • Focus on Supply and Infrastructure: Their primary strategy to lower housing costs centers on freeing up land supply, streamlining resource consenting, and incentivizing private development. The logic is that increasing the overall volume of houses will ease market-wide price pressures.
    • Private Market & Property Rights: They generally lean toward market-led solutions, tax settings that encourage private property investment, and rental market frameworks aimed at keeping landlords active to maintain rental choices. For larger households looking to buy, emphasis is placed on easing lending rules (like loan-to-value or debt-to-income settings indirectly influenced by financial regulation) and utilizing existing tools like KiwiSaver.
  • Labour and Centre-Left Parties (e.g., Labour, Greens, Te Pāti Māori):
    • State and Public Housing Expansion: Parties on the left heavily emphasize direct government and community-led building programs. This includes funding state housing and supporting Māori and Pacific housing providers to build homes that suit collective or extended family living.
    • Targeted Support & Standards: They typically advocate for progressive homeownership schemes (such as rent-to-buy or shared equity), strict healthy home standards to ensure older relatives and children live in warm, dry environments, and renter protections (like limits on rent increases) to stabilize household costs for families who rent.
  • Minor Parties (e.g., The Opportunities Party / TOP):
    • Regulatory Shifts for Multigenerational Living: Some alternative parties specifically target zoning laws to make it legally and logistically easier to build non-traditional configurations, such as modular, co-housing, and multi-generational dwellings on a single title. They also propose low-cost financing streams directed at community housing providers and iwi/Pacific developers.

Connecting Housing to Your Household’s Broader Concerns

Because your family is balancing space, healthcare access, and cost, consider how different party policies intersect:

  1. Healthcare Access: Location matters immensely for older relatives. Parties focusing on urban intensification and public transport corridors aim to keep housing close to central health hubs and hospitals, whereas outward urban sprawl can push affordable, larger homes further away from core medical infrastructure.
  2. Household Costs: Beyond the mortgage or rent, energy bills for a large house can strain a budget. Parties advocating for enhanced insulation, solar incentives, or strict thermal performance standards aim to lower long-term living costs, which directly benefits households caring for both young children and seniors.
  3. Suitability of Space: Traditional New Zealand suburban housing stock has historically focused on three-bedroom standalone dwellings, which can crowd a multigenerational family. Policies that promote flexible zoning, modular/prefabricated larger homes, or papakāinga-style developments offer more tailored spaces for extended families.

As you weigh your party and electorate vote for the November 2026 election, it is worth looking closely at each party's specific manifestos regarding community housing provider funding, urban zoning laws, and regional infrastructure spending to see which vision best aligns with your family's future.

What specific aspect of your household's daily costs or living arrangements is the most pressing challenge for your family right now?

Ask Gemini

Gemini is AI and can make mistakes.

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Google AI Mode · No location

I'm a Pacific voter in a multigenerational household with children and older relatives. Our main concerns are household costs, enough space and access to healthcare. I am considering my vote in the 2026 New Zealand general election. What would parties do about affordable housing suitable for larger households?

For a Pacific voter navigating a multigenerational household—balancing the needs of tamariki (children) and older relatives—finding affordable, appropriately sized housing is a central challenge. In the lead-up to the 2026 New Zealand general election , the major political parties have laid out distinct approaches to housing affordability, first-home ownership, and public/community supply, though direct policies specifically custom-built for large or multigenerational households vary by approach:

1. National Party

  • First Home Loan Expansion: National is campaigning on widening access to the government's low-deposit (5%) First Home Loan scheme (administered via Kāinga Ora) by lifting the combined household income cap to $300,000 for all applicants, removing the previous distinction between single buyers and buyers with dependents.
  • Focus for Households: While not exclusively targeted at large Pacific families, the higher income threshold aims to assist dual-income or extended family households pooling their incomes to transition out of renting and into homeownership. Their broader economic platform emphasizes supply-side zoning reform and avoiding new property taxes to stimulate private development.

2. New Zealand Labour Party

  • Public Housing & Community Supply: Labour has pledged a $2.9 billion capital injection for Kāinga Ora housing spread over four years, alongside backing community housing providers to increase the overall supply of public and affordable homes.
  • Focus for Households: For larger and multigenerational families who rely on public or social housing infrastructure, an expanded Kāinga Ora and community housing stock is intended to address waitlists and the need for larger-bedroom configurations. (Labour's wider 2026 cost-of-living and health package also features free doctor visits and prescriptions, which indirectly relieves broader household budget pressures for families supporting older relatives and children). [NZ Labour Party]

3. Green Party & Te Pāti Māori (and other progressive parties)

  • Rent Controls and Tax Reform: The Greens and other left-bloc platforms focus heavily on capping annual rent increases, introducing land value or land banking taxes to deter speculation, and significantly scaling up state and non-profit affordable housing construction.
  • Focus for Households: For families renting large properties or struggling with soaring market rents, policies limiting rent hikes offer more immediate predictability for household budgeting. [Policy.nz]

4. ACT & NZ First

  • Market-Led & Regulatory Reform: ACT and NZ First generally emphasize loosening resource management and planning laws to free up land for private building, alongside boosting general economic productivity rather than state-led builds. NZ First's family-focused policies lean toward financial assistance for parents (such as the Kiwi Kids Grant proposal) rather than direct public housing builds for extended family footprints.

What this means for your vote:

  • If your household is looking to buy a home together and you are pooling a higher combined income to meet bank lending criteria, National's lifted income caps for low-deposit loans may offer a direct pathway.
  • If your household relies on public/social housing or community providers because private market buying is out of reach, Labour's capital commitment to Kāinga Ora and the broader focus on public stock from the left bloc align closer to increasing large-family rental and public housing availability. [RNZ]

You can review a full, side-by-side comparison of specific candidate and party commitments on the RNZ Election Policy Guide or explore interactive tools on Policy.nz. Housing policy guide - RNZ

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AI Overviews · No location

I'm a Pacific voter in a multigenerational household with children and older relatives. Our main concerns are household costs, enough space and access to healthcare. I am considering my vote in the 2026 New Zealand general election. What would parties do about affordable housing suitable for larger households?

AI Overview

For the 2026 New Zealand general election , political parties are addressing housing affordability and supply with distinctly different strategies. For a large, multigenerational Pacific household, the main impacts will be felt through changes to state housing availability, first-home buying schemes, and the intersection of housing costs with healthcare.

The core differences between the major political parties regarding affordable housing for larger households are outlined below.

Comparison of Party Housing Approaches

Feature / Party National Labour Green Party
Primary Mechanism Private market growth, planning deregulation, and homeownership incentives. Direct Crown-funded construction and social housing expansion. Large-scale public rental building and aggressive renter protections.
Social / State Housing Shifted social housing rents to 30% of tenant income to fund operational costs. Pledges $2.9 billion to build 6,000 new social homes over 4 years; promises to reverse National's rent increases. Pledges to clear the social housing waiting list in 5 years by expanding Kāinga Ora borrowing limits to $12 billion.
Space & Planning Rules Removing minimum floor areas/balcony rules and easing granny flat construction without consent. Focuses on multi-bedroom state/community builds suited for larger families. Prioritizes accessible, community-led, high-density developments.
First-Home Buyers Lifts the First Home Loan income cap to $300,000 for a 5% deposit. Focuses on targeted construction support to keep entry-level builds affordable. Promotes Crown-backed shared equity and progressive homeownership.
Healthcare Link Focuses on general health-system efficiency. Implements a 28% Capital Gains Tax on investment properties to fund free GP visits via a "Medicard". Proposes a wealth tax to expand public health services and build homes.

Detailed Policy Breakdown for Larger Households

1. National Party (Incumbent Government)

National’s housing plan heavily targets increasing overall supply by cutting red tape and providing support to buyers who have good incomes but struggle to save a full deposit.

  • Access to Space (Granny Flats & Rezoning): National introduces sweeping planning reforms through its Planning Bill to replace the RMA. A key detail for multigenerational families is their policy making it significantly easier to build granny flats or minor dwellings on existing properties without council resource consent, which allows families to expand their living space on their own land.

  • Buying a Home: National is expanding the Kāinga Ora First Home Loan scheme. They plan to lift the household income cap to a flat $300,000. This makes it much easier for multiple working adults in a single household to combine their incomes and secure a home loan with just a 5% deposit.

  • Social Housing Costs: In Budget 2026, National adjusted the Income-Related Rent contribution for social housing tenants from 25% to 30% of their income (starting April 2027), generating savings to fund social housing operations.

2. Labour Party (Opposition)

Labour focuses on direct government intervention, building more state houses, and explicitly tying property tax reforms to healthcare relief.

  • More Large Social Homes: Labour has committed $2.9 billion in capital to build 6,000 additional social housing places over four years through Kāinga Ora and Community Housing Providers. This plan focuses heavily on building high-density, multi-bedroom homes designed specifically to reduce crowding for larger families.

  • Household Cost Relief: Labour has promised to reverse National’s social housing rent increase , bringing the income-related rent cap back down to 25% to protect the budgets of low-income families.

  • The Housing-Healthcare Connection: Labour’s headline policy is a 28% Capital Gains Tax (CGT) on residential investment properties (excluding the family home). They intend to ring-fence the billions raised from this tax to directly fund free GP doctor visits , which targets a major household expense for families caring for both young children and elderly relatives.

3. The Green Party

The Green Party takes a renter-first, highly interventionist approach to housing.

  • Renter Protections & Caps: The Greens propose a Renters' Rights Bill that would cap rent increases at 2% per year. For a large household renting in the private market, this provides high predictability for weekly expenses. They would also ban no-cause evictions and enforce a strict rental Warrant of Fitness to ensure older relatives and children live in warm, dry conditions.

  • Massive Public Housing Boost: They intend to clear the entire social housing waiting list within five years by drastically increasing Kāinga Ora’s borrowing ceiling to $12 billion to build tens of thousands of state and community-led homes.

Voting Information

The New Zealand general election takes place on Saturday, 7 November 2026. To vote, you must be enrolled by midnight on 25 October 2026. You can check your status or update your multi-generational household’s address details online via the official Vote NZ Website.

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