National's social policy legacy in social housing

Abstract

This article uses a three-part analytic framework to examine the legacy of the National-led government's social housing reforms between 2008 and 2017. Firstly, the provenance of the reforms is examined to question the extent to which the reforms constituted 'new' policy developments. Secondly, the reforms are considered in relation to contemporary debates about marketisation and housing financialisation. The article contends that the reforms are in line with international marketisation trends and have also furthered the financialisation of New Zealand's housing system. Thirdly, the article assesses the legacy of National's social housing reforms by considering how well the government met its own goals in this area and by considering how little the Labour-led government has changed since coming to power in 2017. The article concludes that the reforms were somewhat innovative but were underpinned by a continuation of ideas and interests that emerged under previous National-led governments in the 1990s.