# Minister of Housing (New Zealand)

The Minister of Housing is a minister in the New Zealand Government with responsibility for the government's house-building programme. The position was established in 1938 as Minister in charge of Housing, and has most commonly been known as Minister of Housing. Other iterations have included the Minister of Building and Housing, the Minister of Social Housing, and the Minister of Housing and Urban Development.
The present Minister is Chris Bishop.

## History

The First Labour Government created the position of Minister in charge of Housing in 1938, to oversee the government's state housing agenda. Responsibility for housing was part of the Works portfolio for some years until the restoration of the Housing portfolio by the Second National Government in 1949.
Until the 1970s, the Housing portfolio was often held in conjunction with responsibility for the State Advances Corporation; the Corporation was dissolved and much of its responsibility transferred to the new Housing Corporation of New Zealand in 1974. In the 1990s, under the significant redistribution of responsibility that occurred following Jenny Shipley's appointment as Prime Minister, responsibility for housing issues was divided between three ministers: the Minister for Social Services, Work and Income; the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation of New Zealand; and the Minister responsible for Housing New Zealand. The Housing Corporation and Housing New Zealand merged into a single entity, Housing New Zealand Corporation, on 6 March 2002.
A separate Minister for Building Issues (later Minister for Building and Construction) was established by the Fourth Labour Government as the Ministry of Housing was expanded to become the Department of Building and Housing. Under the Fifth National Government, the government's focus shifted from providing state houses to providing "social houses," which meant that income-related rent subsidies could be paid to non-governmental community housing providers. While this Government had once combined social housing and building regulation responsibility in a combined "Building and Housing" portfolio, this was disestablished in December 2016 and divided between the Minister for Social Housing and the Minister for Building and Construction.
Following the 2017 election, the Labour-New Zealand First-Green coalition government revamped the portfolio as the Minister of Housing and Urban Development. Phil Twyford was appointed as Housing Minister. On 1 October 2018, Housing Minister Twyford launched a new government department called the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development to advise the Government on housing and urban development issues. During a 2019 cabinet reshuffle the housing and urban development portfolio was split into three positions; appointing Megan Woods as Minister of Housing, Kris Faafoi as Associate Minister of Housing (for rentals), and Twyford as Minister of Urban Development. After the 2020 election Woods was confirmed as Minister of Housing while the urban development portfolio was abolished completely. In early 2021, the Labour government was criticised by the opposition government and some housing industry stakeholders, who said the government has failed to address New Zealand's out-of-control house prices.

## List of ministers
### Key

Labour  National
| No. | No. | Name | Term of office | Term of office | Prime Minister |
| As Minister in charge of Housing ||||||||
| | 1 | Tim Armstrong | 13 December 1938 | 8 November 1942† | Savage |
| | 1 | Tim Armstrong | 13 December 1938 | 8 November 1942† | Fraser |
| As Minister in charge of Housing Construction ||||||||
| | 2 | Bob Semple | 9 December 1942 | December 1945 | Fraser |
| 1945–1949: See Minister of Works ||||||||
| | 3 | Stan Goosman | 13 December 1949 | 9 September 1953 | Holland |
| As Minister of Housing ||||||||
| | 4 | Bill Sullivan | 9 September 1953 | 13 February 1957 | Holland |
| | 5 | Dean Eyre | 13 February 1957 | 26 September 1957 | Holland |
| | 5 | Dean Eyre | 13 February 1957 | 26 September 1957 | Holyoake |
| | 6 | John Rae | 26 September 1957 | 12 December 1957 | Holyoake |
| | 7 | Bill Fox | 12 December 1957 | 12 December 1960 | Nash |
| | (6) | John Rae | 12 December 1960 | 9 February 1972 | Holyoake |
| | (6) | John Rae | 12 December 1960 | 9 February 1972 | Marshall |
| | 8 | Eric Holland | 9 February 1972 | 8 December 1972 | Marshall |
| | 9 | Bill Fraser | 8 December 1972 | 10 September 1974 | Kirk |
| | 9 | Bill Fraser | 8 December 1972 | 10 September 1974 | Rowling |
| | 10 | Roger Douglas | 10 September 1974 | 12 December 1975 | Rowling |
| | 11 | George Gair | 12 December 1975 | 8 March 1977 | Muldoon |
| | (8) | Eric Holland | 8 March 1977 | 13 December 1978 | Muldoon |
| | 12 | Derek Quigley | 13 December 1978 | 15 June 1982 | Muldoon |
| | 13 | Tony Friedlander | 15 June 1982 | 26 July 1984 | Muldoon |
| | 14 | Phil Goff | 26 July 1984 | 24 August 1987 | Lange |
| | 15 | Helen Clark | 24 August 1987 | 14 August 1989 | Lange |
| | 15 | Helen Clark | 24 August 1987 | 14 August 1989 | Palmer |
| | 16 | Jonathan Hunt | 14 August 1989 | 2 November 1990 | Palmer |
| | 16 | Jonathan Hunt | 14 August 1989 | 2 November 1990 | Moore |
| | 17 | John Luxton | 2 November 1990 | 29 November 1993 | Bolger |
| | 18 | Murray McCully | 29 November 1993 | 31 August 1998 | Bolger |
| | 18 | Murray McCully | 29 November 1993 | 31 August 1998 | Shipley |
| 1998–1999: See Minister for Social Services, Work and Income; Minister responsible for Housing New Zealand; Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation of New Zealand ||||||||
| | 19 | Mark Gosche | 10 December 1999 | 12 May 2003 | Clark |
| | 20 | Steve Maharey | 12 May 2003 (acting) 19 May 2003 | 19 October 2005 | Clark |
| | 21 | Chris Carter | 19 October 2005 | 5 November 2007 | Clark |
| | 22 | Maryan Street | 5 November 2007 | 19 November 2008 | Clark |
| | 23 | Phil Heatley | 19 November 2008 | 22 January 2013 | Key |
| | 24 | Nick Smith | 22 January 2013 | 8 October 2014 | Key |
| As Minister for Building and Housing ||||||||
| | (24) | Nick Smith | 8 October 2014 | 20 December 2016 | Key |
| | (24) | Nick Smith | 8 October 2014 | 20 December 2016 | English |
| As Minister for Social Housing ||||||||
| | 25 | Paula Bennett | 8 October 2014 | 20 December 2016 | Key |
| | 25 | Paula Bennett | 8 October 2014 | 20 December 2016 | English |
| | 26 | Amy Adams | 20 December 2016 | 26 October 2017 | English |
| As Minister of Housing and Urban Development ||||||||
| | 27 | Phil Twyford | 26 October 2017 | 27 June 2019 | Ardern |
| As Minister of Housing ||||||||
| | 28 | Megan Woods | 27 June 2019 | 27 November 2023 | Ardern |
| | 28 | Megan Woods | 27 June 2019 | 27 November 2023 | Hipkins |
| | 29 | Chris Bishop | 27 November 2023 | present | Luxon |