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It is a good idea to look on the shelves at HV505.5 and HN930.5.A8 which have books on NZ social policy. If you look up their indexes for housing you can find the ones that cover this topic.
Also in the High Use Collection at HV515.5 SOC you find the following title as a 3 day loan. Chapter 18 of this is completely on housing.
Hassall, G., & Karacaoglu, G. (Eds.). (2013). Social policy practice and processes in Aotearoa New Zealand : Massey University https://ara.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/64ARA_INST/k0on26/alma995281933604431
Housing and government | Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand provides a good historical to current day overview.
Other books with sections on housing include:
Cheyne, C., O’Brien, M., & Belgrave, M. (2008). Social policy in Aotearoa New Zealand (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. – p.187-189 https://ara.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/64ARA_INST/1b8ufmk/alma992977143504431
O’Brien, M. (2008). Poverty, policy and the state : social security reform in New Zealand. Policy. https://ara.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/64ARA_INST/k0on26/alma991816113504431
For a Māori perspective on this topic the following ebook may be useful:
Peters, E. J., & Christensen, J. (Eds.). (2016). Indigenous homelessness : perspectives from Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. University of Manitoba Press.
Which includes the following chapter:
Brown, D. (2016) Chapter 16 Tūrangawaewae kore: nowhere to stand. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/cpit/reader.action?docID=5220839&ppg=340&c=UERG This chapter describes the journey to homelessness for Māori beginning with landlessness; an inherited outcome of the colonial acquisition of indigenous resource to support pakeha settlement. Colonisation caused severance from land and family. (p.333) In 1948 the state housing system attracted Maori to urban areas to be resettled among pakeha through the “pepper-potting” policy especially designed to break ancestral links and suppress customary behaviours and hasten assimilation into Western culture. (p.348)
By the 1950s the policy became unsustainable due to too many Māori moving to cities so mortgages in the form of State Advances attempted to overcome the discrimination Maori experienced from lending institutions when trying to buy a house. A more dramatic policy that was devastating to Maori housing needs was the 1992 Housing Restructuring Act which marked a shift from income related rents ot market rentals in the state housing sector which led to doubled tenants’ rents p.349
The Social Policy and Parliamentary Unit of Salvatian Army – State of the Nation 2025 report has a good overview on causes of housing issues on page 39. https://www.salvationarmy.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/TSA_SOTN25_DownloadVersion.pdf?utm_source=web&utm_medium=button&utm_campaign=SOTNsummary
A current parliamentary Act that is relevant to this social issue is Kāinga Ora – Homes and communities Act 2019 https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2019/0050/latest/whole.html?search=ts_act%40bill%40regulation%40deemedreg_kainga+ora_resel_25_a&p=1#LMS169175 with more detail about this key legislation on the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development website at https://www.hud.govt.nz/our-work/kainga-ora-homes-and-communities-act-2019
Another agency that tackles housing poverty issues is Salvatian Army. You can see how they support in their report Tales from the Trenches. It includes examples of families they support who experience housing poverty https://www.salvationarmy.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/sppu_talesfromthetrenches_nov2022.pdf
See also the Salvatian Army report on “Tackling rental affordability” https://www.salvationarmy.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Rental-Affordability-Report-2025.pdf