State housing

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

State housing is the system of public housing offered to citizens in New Zealand unable to afford private rents. State housing was introduced by the first Liberal government in 1905, but only a few hundred workers' dwellings were built. The scheme was massively expanded under the first Labour government from 1937.[1] At that time rentals equated to approximately one-third of a worker's income.[2]

The sale of state houses to their occupants was introduced in 1950. A peak of 70,000 state rental houses was reached in the early 1990s. In 1991 the fourth National government raised state house rentals to "market levels" amid much controversy.