Greens to cap rents at 2% in sweeping housing policy
Wednesday, 25 March 2026
The Green Party is promising to end homelessness, fix renters’ rights and end the housing crisis in its sweeping new housing policy.
Speaking from a Wellington rental home on Monday, co-leaders Marama Davidson and Chlöe Swarbrick announced policies that would cap rent increases at 2% every year, increase the public housing stock by tens of thousands and legally require social services to help people into housing.
The plan titled “a home for everybody” stated that far too many renters were paying through the roof to live in cold, damp, and unhealthy homes that were making them sick and locking them in poverty.
If elected, they would require landlords to present a Rental Warrant of Fitness to ensure homes comply with the healthy homes standards and enrol on a national landlord register to monitor professional accreditation and regulatory compliance.
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Swarbrick said the current healthy homes standards had “holes”, with tenants needing to take cases to the Tenancy Tribunal to get them enforced.
“The healthy homes standards are basically an opportunity for property managers and landlords to mark their own homework.”
Scaling up public housing by 35,000 to 40,000 would end public housing waiting lists, she said, and the Greens’ wealth tax would be used as a revenue stream to fund this housing.
The plan would see National’s $2.9 billion tax cuts for landlords and property speculators reversed, saying it would give first-home buyers the chance to put down a deposit without losing out to wealthy investors.
The stricter emergency housing eligibility criteria and no cause evictions would also be rolled back.
Creating a Duty To Assist law meant social services would be legally required to transition people experiencing homelessness into permanent housing, with an emphasis placed on young people.
Same-day emergency housing assistance would be provided and continued until that person had access to suitable housing, without putting people into debt.
The party wanted to see planning laws enable more homes to be built in towns and cities, councils required to enable as much development capacity as required by long-term population growth and a removal of barriers for Māori to build on their own land.
It would also scale up the Whai Kāinga Whai Oranga programme to fund more Māori housing initiatives. The programme ended in May 2025.
Funding would be increased for wrap-around support and community organisations that support people with mental health, alcohol and other drugs, budgeting, food and the basics necessary to transition into stable housing.
Housing plan launched from “freezing” rental
The policy was unveiled on the front lawn of a “freezing” Wellington rental ‒ with tenants telling The Post they woke up to leaves on their bed from doors and windows which would not shut.
Green MP Tamatha Paul said they chose it as a location to show the reality of housing in New Zealand.
“So many people in New Zealand, across the age spectrum, working people, beneficiaries, families are living in homes like this.”
Davidson said there was no excuse for people to go without a decent home, let alone any home at all.
“Homelessness, the housing crisis, and unacceptable, unsafe housing conditions are political choices, and we will make every choice we can to end them,” she said.
She opened her speech reflecting on the time the doctor told it was her cold rental that was making her children sick.
“I would do anything I could to try and combat the fact my children were too cold without flying the power bill through the roof, because the heat was just going out the draughty windows and the draughty roof and the draughty doors.”
Swarbrick said every New Zealander needed to live in a warm, dry, stable home.
“This isn’t rocket science. Mass building of public housing almost 100 years ago led to decades of stable, affordable homes for New Zealanders,” she said.
“Other countries have shown how sensible, practical policies to strengthen renters’ rights and common sense tax settings, to stop housing being treated as a state-sanctioned casino, means more affordable homes.”