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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

For the 2026 New Zealand general election: How do parties' housing plans differ for renters, first-home buyers and existing homeowners?

As of 4 October 2026, the main housing divide in the New Zealand election is between parties that primarily want to improve affordability through more supply and easier building, and parties that put more emphasis on renter protections, public housing and changing property-tax settings. The election is on 7 November 2026. New Zealand Parliament dissolved ahead of tight November vote

Here’s the practical comparison.

Renters First-home buyers Existing homeowners / investors
National More targeted social housing; higher Accommodation Supplement for low-income private renters, but social-housing tenants' income-related rent contribution is rising from 25% to 30%. Delivering fairer social housing | National Party Expand the First Home Loan income cap to $300,000, allowing more buyers to use a 5% deposit rather than 20%. National is backing first home buyers | National Party No new taxes; emphasis on planning reform, infrastructure and building more homes. 2026 Election Policy | National Party
Labour Wants renting to be more secure and is committing to at least 6,000 additional social-housing places over four years. Affordable homes for all Its main housing approach is increasing supply and public housing; it has not announced an equivalent new first-home subsidy as specific as National's $300k income-cap proposal. A 28% CGT on gains from investment/commercial property, starting with gains accruing after 1 July 2027; the family home is explicitly exempt. Capital Gains Tax to Level the Playing Field for Businesses, Create Jobs and Fix New Zealand's Health System
Greens The strongest direct renter package: 2% annual rent-increase cap, restoration of restrictions on no-cause evictions, a Rental Warrant of Fitness, and tens of thousands of additional public homes. Greens announce plan to end homelessness & fix housing crisis - Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand Wants to reduce investor advantage by reversing landlord/property-speculator tax cuts and substantially increasing public/affordable housing supply, rather than relying mainly on a deposit subsidy. Greens announce plan to end homelessness & fix housing crisis - Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand Wants housing treated less as an investment asset; its tax programme would increase taxation of wealth/property relative to the status quo. Manifesto 2026 - Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand
ACT Focuses less on rent controls and more on making it cheaper/easier to build, arguing increased supply will reduce rents. It supports shifting assistance toward low-income private renters. ACT New Zealand No comparable headline cash/deposit subsidy; its route is primarily lower construction costs, less regulation and more housing supply. ACT New Zealand Strongest emphasis on property rights, fewer planning restrictions and infrastructure reform. ACT argues landlords should not bear additional property taxes and opposed the previous removal of mortgage-interest deductibility. ACT New Zealand
NZ First Would prioritise citizens for social housing and restrict access to Accommodation Supplement and other benefits for non-citizens for their first 10 years. It also links population growth to infrastructure capacity. NZ First Announces Immigration Reform Policies - New Zealand First NZ First has talked about targeted home-ownership measures; in July it was considering a Crown co-investment scheme with first-home buyers, but that was still being developed rather than a settled flagship policy. NZ First mulls potential policy providing Crown co-investment for first-home buyers | interest.co.nz Its emphasis is on limiting population pressure, restricting non-resident foreign ownership and prioritising New Zealand citizens in housing policy. NZ First Announces Immigration Reform Policies - New Zealand First

What the differences mean in practice

For renters:
The Greens have the most direct intervention in the private rental relationship: a 2% rent cap, stronger eviction protections and rental-quality enforcement. Labour is also putting substantially more government money into social housing. National's approach is more targeted assistance—particularly through the Accommodation Supplement—and reforming social housing so it is more tightly focused on people with the greatest need. ACT's approach is fundamentally supply-led rather than rent-control-led. Greens announce plan to end homelessness & fix housing crisis - Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand

For someone trying to buy their first home:
National has the clearest immediate financing intervention: expanding eligibility for 5% deposits to households earning up to $300,000. Labour and the Greens put more emphasis on increasing the number of affordable/public homes and reducing the advantages enjoyed by property investors. ACT's theory is that planning and construction reform should eventually make homes cheaper by increasing supply. National is backing first home buyers | National Party

For someone who already owns their family home:
National is the clearest status-quo option on taxation: it promises no new taxes. Labour's proposed CGT does not apply to the family home, so an ordinary owner-occupier selling their home would not pay it. The bigger differences arise for people who own additional rental/investment properties, where Labour's proposed CGT and the Greens' broader tax changes would have greater consequences. 2026 Election Policy | National Party

For the housing market as a whole:
National and ACT are particularly focused on land availability, consenting, infrastructure funding and development incentives. National's replacement planning legislation has now received Royal assent, with the stated aim of making housing and infrastructure easier to build. ACT explicitly frames its approach around property rights and removing barriers to development. New planning laws receive Royal assent | National Party

One important caveat: some policies affect more than one group indirectly. For example, a CGT or changes to landlord taxation could affect investors' behaviour and therefore the rental supply; conversely, planning reform could affect both rents and house prices but would take time to feed through. Those are policy effects that depend on economic responses, rather than guaranteed outcomes.

If you want, I can also turn this into a side-by-side table of the 2026 housing policies with the actual dollar amounts, tax rates, rent limits and eligibility thresholds for National, Labour, Greens, ACT and NZ First.

Ask anything

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

Gemini · No location

For the 2026 New Zealand general election: How do parties' housing plans differ for renters, first-home buyers and existing homeowners?

For the 2026 New Zealand general election (held on 7 November 2026), housing policy is a central battleground. The political parties approach the housing market with distinct philosophies, leading to contrasting outcomes for renters, first-home buyers, and existing homeowners/investors.

1. First-Home Buyers

First-home buyers are a major focus for parties looking to ease entry barriers, though they propose very different mechanisms to achieve this:

  • National: Focuses on expanding access to low-deposit schemes (such as backing 5% deposit First Home Loans) and streamlining planning and consenting laws to unlock land and boost private housing supply, aiming to moderate price growth over time.
  • Labour: Proposes demand-side measures to level the playing field against property speculators, including a capital gains tax (excluding the family home), which they argue will take some of the heat out of the entry-level market.
  • The Greens & Te Pāti Māori: Focus heavily on state-backed and affordable housing builds, alongside progressive wealth/stamp duty taxes (such as Te Pāti Māori’s proposed buyer stamp duty with exemptions for first-home buyers under $1 million) to reduce speculative bidding against aspiring homeowners.
  • The Opportunities Party (TOP): Proposes a structural shift via a comprehensive urban Land Value Tax, which they project could structurally lower overall house prices by 10% to 15%, making initial purchase more attainable.

2. Renters

Policies affecting renters primarily hinge on tenant regulations, rental supply, and the cost pressures passed down to tenants:

  • Labour, the Greens, and Te Pāti Māori: Strongly advocate for renter protections. The Greens and Labour emphasize measures like stable tenancy rules, reversing landlord interest deductibility, or introducing stricter quality standards (such as a mandatory Rental Warrant of Fitness). Some progressive platforms also float measures like caps on annual rent increases.
  • ACT and National: Generally favor a market-led approach emphasizing property rights and landlord-friendly settings (such as maintaining interest deductibility). They argue that encouraging private investor participation keeps rental stock high, mitigating fierce competition and sharp rent inflation.

3. Existing Homeowners and Property Investors

Existing homeowners (whose primary residences are generally protected across major party platforms) and residential property investors face vastly different financial futures depending on who wins:

  • ACT and National: Provide a more favorable environment for existing landlords and investors. They support fewer regulatory restrictions on residential investments, keeping interest deductibility settings intact, and easing development bottlenecks.
  • Labour: Introduces significant tax shifts for investment property, notably a proposed 28% capital gains tax on residential investment and commercial property (excluding the family home) starting mid-2027.
  • The Greens, Te Pāti Māori, and TOP: Propose the most aggressive structural reforms for asset owners. These include annual net-wealth taxes, land-banking taxes, inheritance taxes, or TOP’s broad Land Value Tax. These policies are designed to target property accumulation and shift wealth taxation away from income, presenting a higher ongoing cost structure for landowners and multi-property investors.

Are you interested in how a specific party's policy package might impact a particular housing market or region?

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Google AI Mode · No location

For the 2026 New Zealand general election: How do parties' housing plans differ for renters, first-home buyers and existing homeowners?

Housing policies for the 2026 New Zealand general election highlight clear philosophical differences among political parties regarding the rights of renters, support for first-home buyers, and regulations or tax settings impacting existing homeowners and property investors.

As analyzed by public policy commentators and platforms like Policy.nz and property market overviews, the core approaches diverge across the three groups:

1. Renters

  • Left-Bloc / Greens & Labour focus: Parties like the Green Party advocate for robust structural enhancements for tenants, such as strict limits on rent increases, a mandatory national Rental Warrant of Fitness, and a comprehensive national register for landlords and property managers. [iFindProperty]

  • Centred / Government approach: Emphasizes baseline compliance with existing Healthy Homes standards and ongoing regulatory frameworks for property management, balancing landlord viability with tenant quality. [iFindProperty]

2. First-Home Buyers

  • Market Access & Assistance: Debates center around settings for KiwiSaver withdrawals, first-home buyer grants/assistance schemes, and loan-to-value ratio (LVR) or debt-to-income (DTI) frameworks managed via the Reserve Bank.

  • Supply-Side Strategies: Mainstream and center-right parties focus heavily on accelerating urban densification, cutting red tape through fast-tracked consenting, and opening up land for new builds to improve overall affordability through increased supply.

3. Existing Homeowners and Investors

  • Taxation & Deductibility: Property investor settings—including interest deductibility rules and potential capital gains or wealth tax frameworks proposed by progressive parties—remain a major dividing line. Center-right and conservative parties generally favor maintaining or restoring incentives for private landlords to encourage private rental stock provision.

  • Market Impact: Policies that affect property investor demand directly influence house price valuations, equity growth for existing homeowners, and rental yields. [www.thefinders.co.nz]

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AI Overviews · No location

For the 2026 New Zealand general election: How do parties' housing plans differ for renters, first-home buyers and existing homeowners?

AI Overview

Heading into the 2026 New Zealand general election on November 7, the major political parties have laid out vastly different visions for the country's housing market. The main policy splits are defined by the governing National Party focusing on supply-side changes and targeted relief, while Labour and the Greens focus on structural tax changes and expanding the state's footprint.

The differences across the three key groups break down as follows:

1. Renters & Social Housing Tenants

  • National: Focuses on reducing regulations for landlords to stimulate the private rental market. They previously restored 90-day "no-cause" terminations and allowed pet bonds. For social housing, National's Budget 2026 scheduled an increase to the minimum Income Related Rent contribution from 25% to 30% of income starting April 2027.

  • Labour: Strongly opposes National’s social housing rent hikes and has promised to scrap them. Labour is pledging $2.9 billion in capital funding to build at least 6,000 additional social housing places over four years. They are also offering solar panel incentives (with no upfront cost) for renters.

  • Green Party: Focuses heavily on tenant protections. They are proposing strict caps on annual rent increases (limited to 2%), tighter restrictions on landlord terminations, and a large-scale public housing building programme to clear the social housing waiting list within five years.

2. First-Home Buyers

The two main parties have contrasting approaches to getting buyers into their first homes:

Party Core Strategy for First-Home Buyers Key Policies
National Expanding credit access Drastically widening eligibility for the Kāinga Ora First Home Loan scheme by lifting the income cap to a flat $300,000 for all applicants. This allows buyers to purchase with a 5% deposit.
Labour Tax relief and public building Aims to dampen investor competition by implementing new taxes on property flippers/investors. They have also proposed the New Zealand Future Fund to spark domestic investment into affordable housing infrastructure.

3. Existing Homeowners & Property Investors

  • National: Maintains a "no new taxes" stance. They have kept the reduced bright-line property tax test at 2 years and fully restored mortgage interest deductibility for landlords. They are also overhauling the Resource Management Act (RMA) with the Planning and Natural Environment Bills to slash council consent requirements, making it cheaper for homeowners to build extensions or granny flats.

  • Labour: Proposing a landmark 28% capital gains tax (CGT) on residential investment properties and commercial properties, effective from July 1, 2027. Crucially, the family home is fully exempt. The tax would not apply retrospectively; it only taxes gains made after the 2027 start date.

  • Green Party: Proposing to reverse National's investor tax breaks by removing mortgage interest deductibility again. They want to stretch the bright-line test out to 10 years and introduce a wealth tax (2.5% on net assets over $10 million), though the family home remains exempt under their tax package as well.

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