Poll shows Labour not winning with housing stance

The poll was taken after Labour reignited the debate on foreign home ownership. Photo / Regan Schoultz

Labour's controversial stance on foreign buyers has failed to earn the party a significant lift in the polls.

The latest TV3 Reid Research poll showed Labour's popularity was almost unmoved, rising by 0.7 percentage points to 31.1 per cent.

The poll was taken after Labour reignited the debate on foreign ownership by releasing data which showed nearly 40 per cent of house sales in Auckland went to people with Chinese surnames.

National also moved only slightly in the survey, rising by 0.6 points to 47 per cent.

The Greens remained nearly unchanged on 11.4 per cent, as did New Zealand First on 8.4 per cent.

If the poll was translated to Parliamentary seats, a National coalition with Act, the Maori Party and United Future would gain 60 seats - one short of a majority.

A Labour-Greens coalition would get 51 seats.

That meant the balance of power would be held by New Zealand First, which would have 10 seats.

While Labour's policy on foreign buyers did not change its popularity, there was majority support for a ban on non-resident investment in housing.

The poll showed that 61 per cent supported a ban and 35 per cent opposed one. Among National Party voters, 54 per cent supported a ban.

The biggest mover in the poll was the Conservative Party, which fell 1.2 points to just 0.7 per cent after former leader Colin Craig's resignation last month.

Mr Craig stood down after confirming he had behaved inappropriately with a former staffer, but has not ruled out a return to the top job.

Minor parties were mostly unmoved in the survey. The Maori Party polled 0.6 per cent, Act was on 0.5 per cent and United Future gained just 0.1 per cent of the vote.

The poll was taken between July 15 and 22 and had a margin of error of 3.1 per cent.