The need for the New Zealand government to promote national interests during the Depression and the Second World War created a renewed appreciation of the role of the family within society.
New Zealand's first state house was formally opened on 18 September 1937. But the government has provided rental housing for New Zealanders for more than a century. Explore the history of this country's various state housing schemes and their contribution to the New Zealand way of life.
The National government introduced full market rents in 1991 to reduce the state role in housing provision. From the start, public debate over state housing policy in New Zealand has centred on this very issue: how far should governments intervene in the housing market.
As a consequence of the post-war economic boom there was increasing demand for consumer goods. The 1956 census revealed that more than half of New Zealand homes possessed washing machines, refrigerators and electric ovens.
Community has many different meanings. People might live in a particular community, but have little contact with their neighbours, preferring instead to pursue their social life elsewhere. Others in the same street might be best friends and spend hours chewing the fat over a back fence
New Zealanders have called many structures home. Some have been solid and permanent: kauri villas set in lawns and gardens, row houses on cramped Dunedin sections, sprawling state house communities in Otara, mock-Tudor mansions with three-car garages in Remuera, penthouse apartments in inner-city Wellington
An essential aim of state housing was to provide suburban homes for families, a place where children could grow up in safe and spacious surroundings, away from the dangers of the inner city. This guided state housing policy from the beginning.
For low-paid workers and beneficiaries, making ends meet has always been a constant struggle. Life can be even tougher for those without a home of their own.
The design of state houses has been fodder for armchair and professional critics since the beginning. Detractors slagged the first workers' dwellings for bei'too swell' and called for simpler shelters. Half a century later the complaint was the exact opposite
Many of us associate the beginning of state housing with the hipped-roof cottages built by the first Labour government of the 1930s and 40s. But the origin of state housing has much earlier roots.
David and Mary McGregor standing outside 12 Fife Lane in 1978. They had bought the house in 1952, at a time when the National government was keen to promote the sale of state houses to tenants.
Val Wilson outside the Dixon Street Flats in Wellington. In 1992 Val received a government Woman Alone Benefit of $134 per week, out of which she paid $49 per week in rent. With the introduction of full market rents, this was to increase to $140 per week by 1995.
The main thrust of the first Labour government's state housing programme was directed towards the construction of single-unit suburban homes, which were considered more suitable for families.
These houses on Rata Vine Drive, South Auckland, were built in the mid 1980s and sited to encourage neighbours to talk to each other, across fences or on the street
This is the original plan for the Savage Crescent scheme in Palmerston North, clearly showing the importance then given to the central reserve. The plan included communal garages, but these were later removed.
These Star Flats (so named because of their shape) were constructed in the 1960s on the Talbot Park block in Glen Innes, Auckland. They have since been refurbished as part of Housing New Zealand Corporation's Community Renewal initiative.
