More info on this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_housing

Some issues with state housing, which I nonetheless still support:

“During the 1950s, escalating building costs saw the standard of state housing construction to fall. Suburbs of state houses built of cheaper building materials were built in greenfield areas. Houses were more uniform in design than individual, and there was a large increase in the proportion of duplex and multi-unit dwellings.[37]”

“Twenty-five houses were built at Petone in 1905. Only four applications were received to lease them. Workers could reach Wellington with a 20-minute walk followed by a 30-minute train ride, but the train cost another two shillings a week. This left a family no better off than continuing to rent in Wellington.[14] The Government was forced to allow weekly tenancies and to raise the maximum income level[15] to attract families to the houses. Other settlements such as the one in Belleknowes, Dunedin also had trouble finding renters. Houses built in central suburbs, such as the eight in Newtown and twelve in Sydenham, New Zealand, attracted tenants much more readily.[16][17]”

State housing tended to be built in suburbs and on cheaper, available land, often distant to city centres and even work places, which contributed to the urban sprawl. Also was the construction dependent on availability of cheap materials, which was not guaranteed, as the market still set prices, and they were at times too high.

That means it is not always easy to build the affordable housing where it is needed, and it would appear also that a lot of state housing construction was also paid for by increasing the population to share the burden over future years, which though always led to new demand and new pressures.

Yes, and other relevant info also:

https://teara.govt.nz/en/housing-and-government/page-2

‘Backlash’

“At the end of the 1940s there was a backlash against state housing. Rents were now covering only half the cost of new state houses – that meant that middle-income state housing tenants received hefty subsidies, while the poor, who could not afford to rent state houses, paid market rates for private rentals of lower quality. Labour said that raising rents would breach its security-of-tenure promise, but the wider public saw the situation as warped and unfair. During the 1949 general election the National Party exploited this discontent by promising to reform the system and provide tenants with the opportunity to buy their state houses. It won in a landslide.”

It is all not as simple and straight forward as Mike and you may believe it is.

There’s a second option; build in satellite towns and put in good, reliable rail. Government services can be moved to satellite towns as well.

Lastly, we need to curtail migration. If high migration levels are putting a strain on available resources, then we are throwing petrol on the bonfire.

have you never bothered to find out how the 1935 gvt paid for the thousands of state houses .. give you a clue read the above article mike spells it out plainly

https://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/CategoryAttributeSearchResults.aspx?search=1&cid=5748&sidebar=1&rsqid=cac1fbecb8094a1cb7146441a2d34e37&132=FLAT&selected135=7&134=1&135=7&216=0&216=0&217=0&217=0&153=&122=0&122=0&123=0&123=0&59=0&59=0&178=0&178=0&sidebarSearch_keypresses=0&sidebarSearch_suggested=0

People housed like chicken in cages, in some inner city apartment blocks. Housing in NZ Inc in 2018, a failure, a criminal exploitation of renters, time to rise up, time to squat and occupy.