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I work in hospitality in Queenstown and rent a room. Finding a stable place to live near work is difficult for me, and I worry about losing my room during busy visitor periods. I am considering my vote in the 2026 New Zealand general election. Do the parties differ on holiday rentals and housing available for permanent residents in Queenstown Lakes, and what could government change compared with the district council?
2026 election guide: holiday rentals and secure housing in Queenstown Lakes
For someone working in hospitality in Queenstown and renting a room, there are two connected issues to consider: whether homes are being used for short-term visitors rather than permanent residents, and whether enough affordable, secure housing is available for people who work locally.
New Zealand's political parties differ on how much to regulate rental housing, how to encourage new construction, how to fund tourism-related infrastructure, and how much support the state should provide to renters. Those differences matter in Queenstown Lakes, where the district council identifies short-term visitor accommodation as one factor contributing to the shortage of long-term rental homes. Short Term AccommodationThe property policies: How election 2026 housing promises line up
The key distinction for your vote is that the national government can change tax rules, tenancy law, housing funding and national planning legislation, while the Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) administers local land-use rules and visitor-accommodation requirements.
1. What the council can already do
QLDC distinguishes between different types of short-term visitor accommodation, including whole homes or flats rented to visitors and homestays where the resident remains in the property.
- Short-term visitor accommodation generally means paid stays of fewer than 90 days.
- The rules for renting out a residential property to visitors depend on the property's district-plan zone. Some activities require resource consent if they exceed permitted standards.
- Homestays have different rules; in most zones, there is no general limit on the number of nights, although registration and other conditions apply.
QLDC explicitly acknowledges that converting long-term rental houses to visitor accommodation makes them unavailable to permanent tenants and contributes to the district's housing shortage. It is also working with central government and the Queenstown Lakes Community Housing Trust on its Joint Housing Action Plan. Short Term AccommodationQueenstown Lakes District
This matters because a national promise to build more houses and a local rule limiting holiday rentals address different parts of the problem. One aims to increase the number of homes; the other can influence how existing homes are used.
QLDC: official short-term visitor accommodation rules
2. How the parties differ in the 2026 election
The following is a comparison of announced policies and current proposals as at 22 October 2026. It focuses on the policies most relevant to renters and workers in a tourism-dependent district. A party's general housing policy should not be mistaken for a specific promise to restrict Airbnb in Queenstown Lakes.
| Party | Housing and rental approach | Tourism and holiday-rental relevance |
|---|---|---|
| National | Emphasises making it easier to build, investment and private-sector housing supply, alongside a more targeted social-housing system. | Proposes directing more existing International Visitor Levy revenue to councils, rather than introducing a new bed tax. 2026 Election PolicyDelivering fairer social housingInternational Visitor Levy reset to keep taxes low |
| Labour | Has announced a targeted capital gains tax on investment-property profits. Its wider housing approach and other policies should be checked against its current election programme. | A capital gains tax could change investment incentives, but it is not itself a cap on holiday rentals or a guarantee of more long-term rooms. Labour's 2026 Election PoliciesThe property policies: How election 2026 housing promises line up |
| Green Party | Proposes rent controls, stronger renters' rights, more public housing and measures to improve rental standards. | Has specifically proposed a locally set bed levy, potentially at a higher rate for short-term rentals, and a national register of Airbnb-style accommodation. Greens announce plan to end homelessness & fix housing crisisGreens give councils tools to fund tourist infrastructure |
| ACT | Emphasises property rights, reducing barriers to development and increasing housing supply. It proposes allowing residential rental losses to be offset against other taxable income. | Its published approach favours encouraging rental investment and construction rather than relying primarily on additional taxes or restrictions. ACT New ZealandElection Policy Comparison |
| New Zealand First | Has proposed prioritising social housing for citizens and coordinating population, housing and infrastructure planning through a long-term population plan. | These proposals concern housing access and planning; I could not verify a specific current commitment to restrict holiday rentals in Queenstown Lakes. The property policies: How election 2026 housing promises line upThe property policies: How election 2026 housing promises line up |
| Te Pāti Māori | Proposes universal rent control, ending no-cause evictions, more social housing and a tax on vacant houses. | These measures could affect rental security and housing investment, but a vacant-house tax is different from a tax on homes actively used for holiday guests. The property policies: How election 2026 housing promises line upParty policies, simplified: Housing |
| The Opportunity Party (TOP) | Appears in the 2026 housing-policy comparisons, with an emphasis on housing supply and reform. | I could not verify a specific current Queenstown Lakes holiday-rental policy from the sources reviewed. Election Policy ComparisonThe property policies: How election 2026 housing promises line up |
These are not equivalent policy packages. Some focus on increasing supply, some on limiting rent increases and strengthening tenancy rights, and others on changing the incentives facing property investors.
A few important distinctions will help you interpret the comparison.
Three policy differences worth understanding
- Restricting holiday rentals versus charging them a levy
The Greens have made a specific proposal to give councils power to charge a bed levy, including a higher rate for short-term accommodation, and to establish a national short-term-rental register. National proposes redistributing existing International Visitor Levy revenue to councils instead of introducing a bed tax. National estimates that Queenstown Lakes would receive $17.1 million in the first year of its proposed funding arrangement, starting in July 2027. These are different approaches to funding visitor-related costs; neither proposal, by itself, requires a holiday home to become a permanent rental. Greens give councils tools to fund tourist infrastructureInternational Visitor Levy reset to keep taxes low
- More homes versus stronger rental protections
ACT and National emphasise building and investment incentives. Labour's announced 28% capital gains tax on profits from selling investment properties would change the tax treatment of property investment, but it is not a direct short-term-rental restriction. The Greens and Te Pāti Māori propose stronger rent controls and changes to eviction rules, alongside other housing measures. Labour's 2026 Election PoliciesACT New ZealandGreens announce plan to end homelessness & fix housing crisisThe property policies: How election 2026 housing promises line up
- Public housing and housing for workers
The Greens propose building tens of thousands of public homes and supporting councils and community providers to supply more. New Zealand First has proposed prioritising social housing for citizens. National's current approach includes tightening the targeting of social housing and encouraging movement into private rentals where appropriate. These differences matter if your income makes market rents difficult to sustain, although eligibility for social housing depends on the applicable criteria, not simply working in hospitality. Greens announce plan to end homelessness & fix housing crisisThe property policies: How election 2026 housing promises line upDelivering fairer social housing
3. What can central government change that QLDC cannot do alone?
National government and Parliament
- Change tenancy law, including rules governing rent increases and ending tenancies.
- Change property tax settings that influence the costs and returns of renting out homes.
- Set national planning legislation and requirements that affect where and how housing can be built.
- Fund Kāinga Ora, community housing providers and housing infrastructure.
- Give councils new powers to collect visitor levies or require consistent registration of short-term rentals.
Queenstown Lakes District Council
- Apply district-plan zoning and visitor-accommodation rules to local properties.
- Administer registration and resource-consent requirements.
- Plan local infrastructure and work with housing trusts, iwi, employers and central government on affordable and workforce housing.
- Make local decisions within the powers and funding available to it.
QLDC's Joint Housing Action Plan specifically identifies rental accommodation shortages as a barrier to attracting and retaining workers. It includes collaboration with employers, research into solutions used elsewhere, and education about the effects of short-term letting. Queenstown Lakes DistrictShort Term Accommodation
The practical implication is that a council may be able to tighten certain local visitor-accommodation rules without waiting for a general election, but it cannot independently rewrite national tenancy law or introduce every kind of new visitor levy. Conversely, a national government can create new powers or funding arrangements, but the outcome still depends on implementation.
4. What could these policies mean for someone renting a room?
There are four outcomes worth separating when evaluating promises.
| Outcome you care about | Policy mechanism to examine | Important limitation |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer homes converted to holiday rentals | Local restrictions, consent requirements or registration | Registration alone does not stop a home being used for visitors. |
| More stable rent | Limits on increases and changes to eviction rules | Rent controls do not automatically create additional rooms or guarantee that your current room will be available. |
| More affordable places to live | Public, community and workforce housing; incentives to build lower-cost homes | Construction takes time, and not every new home will be affordable to hospitality workers. |
| Less pressure from tourism | Bed levies or visitor-levy funding for local infrastructure | More infrastructure funding does not necessarily increase the supply of permanent rentals. |
The effects also depend on the type of accommodation you rent. If you rent a room in an owner's home, for example, the owner's ability to host paying visitors may be governed by different rules from those for a whole house that is let exclusively to holidaymakers. And if you share a house with other tenants, your legal protections can depend on whether you are a tenant under a tenancy agreement or a flatmate outside that agreement.
5. A neutral checklist for comparing party promises
Before deciding how to vote, you could use these questions to test the parties' published policies against your circumstances.
- Holiday rentals: Does the party propose actual limits on short-term letting, or only registration, taxation or extra housing construction?
- Security: Would its tenancy proposals apply to your type of room rental, and what would change about eviction or notice rules?
- Affordability: Is there a concrete plan for homes affordable to lower-paid workers, rather than simply increasing the total housing supply?
- Timing: When would the measures start, and how long would it take for them to affect the availability of rooms?
- Accountability: Does the policy specify funding, legislation and who would be responsible for delivering it?
For a fuller party-by-party comparison, the independent election guide Policy.nz — 2026 housing policies lets you explore housing affordability, renting, housing quality and public housing. The Property Council's 2026 election policy comparison provides another perspective on the parties' positions on development and infrastructure.
The central question for your situation is not just which parties promise more houses. It is which proposals would change the supply of homes available to permanent residents, make room rentals more secure, and ensure Queenstown Lakes has the funding and authority to manage the costs of tourism.
Those are related but distinct goals, and the policies above offer different approaches to achieving them.
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