1. Introduction For many years, successive governments in Aotearoa New Zealand have committed to implement the right to a decent home, as set out in the International Bill of Rights, Convention on the Rights of the Child, Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Despite these promises, the country faces a housing and human rights crisis caused by decades of neglect. The crisis exposes a failure of public policy and democracy. Democratic institutions with the responsibility to anticipate and swiftly tackle crises have failed to do their job. The Human Rights Commission has launched a Housing Inquiry as a constructive way to address this crisis that affects everyone in Aotearoa. In August 2021, we published Aratohu tika tangata ki te whai whare rawaka i Aotearoa: Framework Guidelines on the right to a decent home in Aotearoa.2 The Guidelines introduce the right to a decent home grounded on Te Tiriti o Waitangi and signal the different ways this human right can contribute to a fair and dynamic housing system in this country. They outline what the right to a decent home means in the unique context of Aotearoa, including the systematic dispossession of Māori land, ongoing impacts of colonisation, and Te Tiriti o Waitangi. 6 Human Rights Commission The Guidelines also identify the key features of the right to a decent home grounded on Te Tiriti o Waitangi and provide a helpful lens for examining housing strategies and other initiatives. In September 2021, the government published two important housing documents: the Government Policy Statement on Housing and Urban Development and MAIHI Ka Ora. We have considered both through the lens provided by the Guidelines. This report offers our preliminary reflections on both documents. It gives particular attention to two key features of the right to a decent home grounded on Te Tiriti o Waitangi: • constructive accountability • public participation and engagement. Strategies, policies and other housing interventions need nimble institutions and reliable processes to keep them on track and help deliver their objectives. The absence of such institutions and processes in recent decades has contributed to the current housing and human rights crisis. The report recommends how to strengthen accountability and public participation in the housing system. Meaningful accountability and public participation rely on the ability to measure whether the housing situation is improving for everyone in Aotearoa. Accordingly, the report sets out how indicators and benchmarks (or data points) can measure the progressive realisation of the right to a decent home grounded on Te Tiriti o Waitangi.