Pacific people and sole-parent families are most likely to live in cold, damp houses, new data shows.
Two-fifths (43 per cent) of Pacific people, and a third (33 per cent) of sole parent families, lived in houses that were always or often cold in the year to March this year, compared with 21 per cent of all New Zealanders.
The same two groups were also most likely to report a "major problem" with dampness - 15 per cent of Pacific people and 11 per cent of sole parent families, compared with a national average of 6 per cent.
The findings, from Statistics NZ's General Social Survey, reflect the fact the same two groups are also most likely to be renting. A massive 71 per cent of Pacific people and 54 per cent of sole parents rent their homes, compared with only 27 per cent of Europeans.
Renters were far more likely to report that their homes were both cold (35 per cent) and damp (12 per cent), compared with just 15 per cent and 3 per cent of home-owners.