The government has acknowledged that there are currently 480 applicants for social housing who are living in cars, and it includes families with children. In October 2017 that number was 102.
A week earlier, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins ruled out plans for a wealth or capital gains tax, which many argue would make the housing market more fair.
Susan St John is an Honorary Associate Professor of economics at Auckland University, who's been writing about housing in New Zealand for many years.
She told First Up the housing market is "seriously distorted".
"We are talking about the workers that we depend on, living in these circumstances. And the ones living in cars are just the tip of the iceberg. Others live in overcrowded situations, motels and in garages.
"These are the people who are supposed to be driving the New Zealand economy.
"Until we actually face what we're doing in housing, things are not going to get any better."
