When you're leader of the opposition and not in power, making things happen from the back benches is hard.

That is exactly what Labour Party leader Andrew Little is finding out after his second visit to Tauranga and a refresher on the state of the city's housing crisis and sale of state houses.

Labour Party leader Andrew Little says it's absurd that the Government plans to sell state housing off in Tauranga. Photo: File.

Following his visit back in April, Andrew once again met with Merivale Community Centre and Te Tauwharau o te Ora members for an update on the lack of affordable houses, increasing homelessness, spiralling rents and the rental shortage.

'There does seem to be a real issue here about getting housing, particularly state housing, allocated for the homeless,” says Andrew.

'I'm not quite sure where the problem lies, but they [Merivale Community Centre and Te Tauwharau o te Ora members] tell me there is available housing but people can't get into them.”

In Tauranga, there are currently 139 families on the waiting list for a state house - 73 of which are priority A and 66 priority B. In the Western Bay of Plenty there are 28 - 17 priority A and 11 priority B

Nationwide this number sits at 4808, made up of 2348 priority A and 2460 priority B.

Housing priority is worked out through an assessment process that considers a range of factors.

These factors include the condition of and facilities available in the tenant's current dwelling, the ability of their current dwelling to meet their social, medical and personal needs and their ability to gain access to a suitable house or flat because of a lack of skills, discrimination or financial means.

According to the Labour Party, the average waiting time for those in urgent need of a state house in New Zealand was 55 days in September 2013. This has since blown out to 129 days by March this year.

It's an issue that doesn't sit well with Andrew given Tauranga is one of two areas selected by the Government, with 1250 Housing New Zealand homes potentially up for sale.

'It just seems absurd when there is a growing homeless problem here in Tauranga and you have got state housing sitting empty,” he says.

'I would have thought priority would have been given to getting people into them so that those people have a warm, safe, dry house to be in.

'And deal with the ideological issue of selling them at some other point. Right now we have to look after the people and ensure they have a roof over their head.

Housing continues to be one of the hottest topics nationwide - even more so in the upper North Island, with soaring house prices in Auckland seeing a flow on effect into Tauranga and the Waikato.

Andrew says the problem stems from what is happening in the Auckland housing market, and the knock-on effect is starting to have an impact on cities like Tauranga as well as Hamilton and Rotorua.

'People who are selling up in Auckland are getting very good prices,” he adds, 'but they are then coming into places like Tauranga and putting pressure on house prices here.

'So the knock-on effect is starting to be felt because of what is happening in Auckland.

'If we want to fix what is happening elsewhere we have to fix Auckland.”

Accusations of racism were angled at the party over the weekend after Labour released figures from an unnamed real estate firm showing 39.5 per cent of houses sold in Auckland between February and April went to people with Chinese surnames.

But Little insists this is only part of the problem facing the housing market in New Zealand's largest city.

'The whole role of non-resident foreign buyers is not the only issue affecting Auckland house prices,” he says, 'but it's a significant one and we have to deal with that.

'We do need to have a good, decent public discussion because these things have gone unaddressed and without too much public attention for too long.”

Andrew Little says the Government should be making use of social housing for those who need a roof over their heads, not looking to sell it off. Photo: File.