Rekindling the dream of Kiwis owning their own affordable home is the driving force for the Labour Party's Kiwibuild initiative.

Phil Twyford, the party's newly appointed spokesperson for housing, visited Tauranga this week meeting with Mayor Stuart Crosby and building companies to discuss Labour's plans to build 100,000 affordable homes during a ten year period.

Labour's housing spokesperson Phil Twyford visited Tauranga yesterday to hold talks regarding the party's Kiwibuild affordable homes initiative.

Phil says affordable homes in Tauranga is a high priority after ranking third behind Auckland and Christchurch as the most unaffordable city for housing with an average asking price of $415,000 in 2012.

Auckland is the least affordable market with a median multiple of 6.7 closely followed by Christchurch (6.6) and Tauranga-Western Bay of Plenty (5.9) while Wellington (5.4) and Dunedin (5.1) also rate as severely unaffordable.

Affordability is measured through the median house price, currently at $380,000, with Tauranga sitting nearly six times above the median wage and three times above the unaffordability mark.

Information shows one of the main reasons housing is unaffordable is the lack of new entry houses after homeownership for entry-level homes rose to 35 per cent in the 1960s and 1970s, but now sits at just five per cent.

Phil believes 60 per cent of Tauranga residents who want to buy a house are severely disadvantaged as many earn on or below the average $70,000 wage and during the past five years 66 per cent of houses built have tipped the $400,000 mark.

'It would be a real struggle to buy a house for $400,000 for many of them. It's a concern because we are not delivering what people need.

'It's pretty similar to see in Auckland where the builders are not building affordable homes because they cannot make a dollar from it. They are instead at the top end of the property market.”

By launching New Zealand's largest public building programme in more than 50 years, the initiative aims to provide 2000 apprenticeship opportunities and generate $2billion a year in economic growth.

To kick start the programme, Labour will look to create a $1.5billion fund by working closely with councils and the private sector to develop and build the houses with all money returned to the fund following completion.

Phil says the meetings with Mayor Crosby and Tauranga building firms, DNA Modular Creations and Ezy Line Prebuild Homes, were instructive gaining feedback on how they approach the building sector and how it might offer opportunities for Kiwibuild.

'We are looking to provide healthy, affordable houses that will appreciate as assets for the families that live in them. There are real benefits to the whole community.

'Looking at today's younger generations, it basically means you feel depressed and have that feeling of being locked out. That's why I think so many young people do not see a future in New Zealand and are moving to Australia.”