New Zealand's 2026 election: housing, investors and first-home affordability

Your concern is understandable. When you're renting, working steadily and saving a deposit, there are two moving targets: the price of the house you're trying to buy and the amount you need to save before you can buy it.

The important distinction in this election is that making houses cheaper to buy, making deposits easier to accumulate, and increasing the supply of homes are three different policy goals. A party can make progress on one without necessarily achieving the others.

For your situation, I'd examine three questions:

1. Investors: Do policies make it easier or harder for landlords and property investors to buy existing homes?
2. Land use: Do policies allow more land to be developed and more homes to be built where people want to live?
3. Construction: Do policies actually increase the number of homes being completed, particularly affordable first-home options?

I'll separate the parties' stated policies from the likely economic effects. The latter are not guaranteed: interest rates, wages, construction costs, migration and the wider economy also influence house prices.

1. What the main parties are proposing

The following comparison reflects policies published during the 2026 campaign, checked against election coverage and party policy material available in October 2026.

Party	Investors and property tax	Building and land use
National	Retains the current landlord interest-deductibility settings; no broad new property tax proposed.	More development and infrastructure coordination, planning reform, and wider access to 5% First Home Loans.
Labour	Proposes a 28% capital gains tax on gains from investment properties, excluding the family home, from July 2027. Retains interest deductibility.	Supports housing supply, infrastructure investment and 6,000 additional social housing places over four years.
Green Party	Proposes investigating limits on the number of homes individuals and companies can own, alongside a value-uplift levy.	Tens of thousands of additional public homes, more accessible housing and stronger support for papakāinga development.
ACT	Proposes removing rental-property loss ring-fencing, allowing investors to offset rental losses against other income.	Emphasises less restrictive regulation, faster consenting and private-sector development.
New Zealand First	No equivalent broad capital gains tax proposal identified in its published housing package.	Wants housing development coordinated with infrastructure and a 30-year population plan.
Te Pāti Māori	Proposes repealing interest deductibility, a 5% stamp duty on residential sales with an exemption for qualifying first-home purchases under $1 million, and taxes on vacant and land-banked properties.	Proposes 2,000 homes on ancestral Māori land within four years and greater Māori housing provision.
The Opportunity Party (TOP)	Proposes a 1.75% annual land value tax, with some exemptions and a development deferral.	Proposes simplified national planning zones, easier modular construction and incentives for affordable, environmentally efficient housing.

Sources: Policy.nz's 2026 housing comparison, Interest.co.nz's October housing policy comparison, and Property Council's election policy comparison.

A few of these differences deserve a closer look, because the consequences for first-home buyers aren't always obvious.

2. Investors: what happens if landlords face higher taxes?

The central debate is whether housing should be treated primarily as an investment asset or as somewhere people live.

Labour's capital gains tax

Labour proposes a 28% tax on gains made when investment properties are sold, excluding the family home. The proposal applies to gains arising from July 2027 onwards.

Potential effects:

• It could reduce the after-tax attractiveness of purchasing residential property purely for capital appreciation.
• Some investors might sell properties, potentially increasing the number of homes available to buyers.
• It could discourage speculative investment.
• However, investors might also pass some additional costs on through rents or invest elsewhere.

Importantly, it is a tax on gains, not a 28% tax on the entire selling price.

ACT's approach

ACT proposes removing rental loss ring-fencing. This would let qualifying investors use rental-property losses against other income.

Potential effects:

• Owning rental property could become more financially attractive.
• Investors might be more willing to purchase existing homes.
• That could mean stronger competition for first-home buyers.
• On the other hand, greater investment could also support new rental construction.

Green Party and Te Pāti Māori

The Greens are considering restrictions on the number of properties an individual or entity can own and a value-uplift levy.

Te Pāti Māori proposes removing interest deductibility, imposing a land-banking tax and taxing qualifying vacant homes.

These policies aim to reduce the financial advantages of holding residential property as an investment, especially where properties or development land are not being productively used.

National's approach

National largely retains the existing tax treatment for residential landlords. Its approach is more focused on increasing development and helping first-home buyers access lending.

For a first-home buyer, the key question is whether the policy reduces competition from existing-property investors or instead relies on increasing the number of homes available.

Neither approach automatically guarantees lower house prices.

3. Land use: arguably one of the most important long-term issues

This is where the debate becomes particularly interesting.

New Zealand has historically struggled to make enough land available for housing in places where people want to live. Land can be physically available but still difficult to develop because of zoning restrictions, infrastructure costs, consenting delays or council rules.

National's Going for Housing Growth programme

National's current programme has three main components:

• Freeing up land for development, including at the edges of urban areas.
• Enabling more housing density in existing urban areas, particularly near transport.
• Improving the funding of roads, water, wastewater and other infrastructure needed for new developments.

It also introduces housing growth targets requiring larger councils to plan for 30 years of feasible housing capacity.

This matters because zoning land for housing doesn't necessarily mean a developer can afford to build on it. Roads, water pipes and wastewater systems must also be funded.

Source: Ministry of Housing and Urban Development – Going for Housing Growth. Going for Housing Growth programme - Ministry for Cities, Environment, Regions and Transport (Formerly Te Tūāpapa Kura KāingaBudget 2026: Securing New Zealand's Future

The Opportunity Party

TOP proposes:

• Ten nationally consistent planning zones.
• Making it easier to build different types of housing.
• Pre-approved building systems for modular and prefabricated homes.
• A land value tax intended to encourage productive use of land.

The idea is to make land and construction less expensive and discourage owners from holding valuable urban land without developing it.

ACT

ACT generally favours reducing planning and consenting restrictions, with a greater role for private developers and property owners in determining what gets built.

Labour and the Greens

Both support increasing housing supply, but put more emphasis on public and affordable housing alongside private development.

The Greens also support more housing on Māori land through papakāinga development.

New Zealand First

Its approach puts particular emphasis on coordinating population growth, housing and infrastructure. It wants developers seeking fast-track approvals to demonstrate that necessary infrastructure is available, funded or deliverable.

Te Pāti Māori

Its proposals include developing homes on ancestral Māori land and addressing land banking, vacant homes and barriers to Māori home ownership.

Why land-use policies can affect your deposit target

There is some unusually useful New Zealand evidence here.

A 2026 study examining Auckland's 2016 zoning reforms found that allowing more medium- and high-density development approximately doubled housing starts per capita within five years compared with its estimated alternative scenario.

The research attributed around 46% of the subsequent seven years' housing consents to the reform.

Separately, government research estimated that restrictions on urban land supply added $378.40 per square metre to land prices immediately inside Auckland's rural-urban boundary in 2021.

These are Auckland-specific findings, not direct forecasts for every New Zealand region, but they illustrate why planning rules matter.

Sources: Can zoning reform increase housing construction? Evidence from AucklandNew research shows evidence of the impact of restrictions to land supply on house prices - Ministry for Cities, Environment, Regions and Transport (Formerly Te Tūāpapa Kura Kāinga

4. What actually makes first-home prices fall?

It helps to distinguish between four mechanisms.

A. More housing supply

Potentially lowers prices

More developable land, simpler consenting and more construction can increase competition between sellers and developers. Over time, this can moderate prices relative to incomes.

B. Fewer investor advantages

May reduce competition

Higher taxes on investment gains or rental-property ownership could make some existing homes less attractive to investors, potentially creating more opportunities for owner-occupiers.

C. Easier access to deposits

Doesn't necessarily lower prices

Government-backed 5% deposit loans can help people buy sooner, but they increase buyers' purchasing capacity. If supply doesn't respond, extra demand can put upward pressure on prices.

D. More affordable public housing

Can ease pressure

More social and affordable homes can reduce competition for private rentals and provide housing options for people who otherwise struggle to secure accommodation.

There is an important qualification about investor taxes: if investors sell existing properties, that may help first-home buyers in the short term. But if fewer investors build new rental properties, the longer-term effect on rental supply could be different.

Similarly, making it easier to build doesn't immediately make homes affordable. Construction takes time, and new houses may initially be too expensive for many first-home buyers.

5. First-home buyer policies: what could help you directly?

Two parties have particularly clear proposals around deposit access.

Party	Proposal	Potential benefit
National	Extend the First Home Loan income cap to $300,000	More households could qualify for 5% deposit lending.
Labour	Expand First Home Loan access with a $300,000 income cap and introduce rent-to-buy for eligible Kāinga Ora and community housing tenants.	More access to lower-deposit lending and a pathway to ownership for some tenants.

Sources: National's election policies and Labour's election policies. 2026 Election PolicyLabour's 2026 Election PoliciesElection policy tracker: what the parties are promising

One thing worth remembering: a 5% deposit is not the same as a 5% deposit being affordable.

For example:

Illustrative deposit calculator

$750,000

Example purchase price, not a current market valuation

$37,500

5% deposit

$150,000

20% deposit

Actual lending eligibility, lender criteria, insurance costs and other conditions apply. A lower deposit generally means a larger mortgage and potentially higher borrowing costs.

The difference between these two deposit targets is substantial. However, even if you qualify for a smaller deposit, you still need to be able to service the mortgage.

6. An important distinction: the Greens' and TOP's tax proposals

Two policies deserve extra attention because they could affect owner-occupiers as well as investors.

• Greens: Propose repealing interest deductibility for landlords and restoring a 10-year bright-line test. They also propose investigating limits on multiple-property ownership.
• TOP: Proposes an annual land value tax of 1.75% on urban land, with exemptions and deferrals in specified circumstances.

The TOP proposal is particularly different from a conventional investor tax: it would also affect people who own the home they live in, because the tax is on the land rather than simply on investment profits.

TOP argues that its wider tax and income reforms would help offset this burden and reduce the incentive to hold valuable land without using it productively. The actual effect on house prices and household finances would depend on the complete package, not the land tax in isolation.

NZ election 2026: What every party plans for housing, rankedThe property policies: How election 2026 housing promises line up

7. How I'd assess the policies when deciding how to vote

Given that your goal is to move from renting into your first home, I'd use these five questions to assess each party.

Question	Why it matters
Will more homes actually get built?	More supply can improve affordability over time.
Will existing-property investors face different incentives?	This affects competition when you bid on an existing home.
Will infrastructure funding support development?	Zoned land is of limited use if it cannot be serviced.
Will first-home assistance increase your purchasing power?	It could reduce your deposit hurdle, but may increase demand.
Will the policy remain stable for several years?	Housing decisions and savings plans require certainty.

I'd also look beyond the headline promises. Ask whether parties have:

• Identified funding for their housing programmes.
• Set measurable construction targets.
• Explained how councils will pay for infrastructure.
• Explained how quickly their policies could take effect.
• Considered the consequences for rents as well as purchase prices.

8. My overall reading of the policy differences

Without ranking the parties or recommending a vote, there are some distinct approaches:

National and ACT

Emphasis on private development, regulatory changes and making investment and construction easier. National additionally proposes broader access to low-deposit home loans.

Labour

Combines first-home assistance and social housing investment with a capital gains tax on investment property gains, while retaining landlord interest deductibility.

Greens and Te Pāti Māori

Put greater emphasis on reducing investment incentives, expanding public and Māori housing, and strengthening protections for renters.

The Opportunity Party

Proposes more fundamental changes to land taxation and planning rules, intended to encourage productive land use and housing development.

New Zealand First

Emphasises aligning population growth, infrastructure and housing development, with particular conditions around fast-track projects.

9. Where to investigate further before voting

These are useful independent starting points:

• Policy.nz – 2026 election housing comparison: Compare actual policies by party and topic.
• Interest.co.nz – Detailed property policy comparison: Particularly useful for understanding tax and investor proposals.
• Government – Going for Housing Growth: Understand the planning and land-use changes.
• The Conversation – 2026 policy tracker: Broader policy context beyond housing.

The general election is Saturday 7 November 2026, with advance voting already underway. You have two votes: a party vote, which determines each party's share of parliamentary seats, and an electorate vote for your local representative. Policies for Party vote - NZ Election 2026

One final thought about your deposit

I wouldn't measure the success of housing policy simply by whether house prices fall.

For a couple saving while renting, the more useful measure is whether the gap between your savings and the price of a suitable first home gets smaller.

For example:

• If house prices rise by 2% but your combined savings grow by 10%, you may be getting closer.
• If house prices rise by 8% while your savings grow by 5%, the goal is moving further away.
• If prices fall but mortgage interest rates rise substantially, buying may not become much easier.

The real objective is to make home ownership more attainable relative to ordinary household incomes, not simply to make property prices go up or down.

I'd be happy to take this one step further and model what different housing-policy outcomes could mean for your own first-home deposit target over the next three to five years, using realistic New Zealand house-price, savings and mortgage scenarios.