Home ownership rates in New Zealand is at its lowest in 66 years following the housing crisis gripping the country.
Just 63.2 per cent of people live in their own home today, compared with 26 years ago when a record high of 73.8 per cent of New Zealanders lived in their own home in 1991.
The recent low rivals that of 1951 where just 61.2 per cent were recorded as living in their own home, with 33 per cent living in a rental property.
Statistics New Zealand Dwelling and Household Estimates data showed that of the 1.8 million homes, 1.2 million were owner-occupied at the end of December 2016, with 604,900 rented.
Opposition leader Andrew Little said the figures show political parties need to work together to enact Labour's KiwiBuild and Healthy Homes Bills.
“With more and more Kiwis locked out of owning their own home and stuck renting, it’s time for Parliament to come together and solve the crisis," he said.
He said the Kiwi dream of owning their own place was "slipping away".
“National’s new leader has the chance to put partisanship to one side and back Labour’s plan to fix the housing crisis.
“Our policies are ready and about to be voted on by Parliament. All parties should back them. If we work together, we can fix the housing crisis.
“If National obstructs our policies for political reasons, they will be condemning more and more Kiwi families to never owning their own home and living in unhealthy rentals."
The Healthy Homes Guarantee, which called for all rentals to be warm, dry and healthy to live in, has passed its first reading and was due to be presented before the House early this year.
The KiwiBuild Policy called for 100,000 affordable homes to be built and is due for its first reading.
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