However, as the cameras were set up, the occupant came out and told journalists the house was in fact being renovated and the tent was full of furniture and renovation materials.
Labour's communications director Sarah Stuart redirected journalists to the party's local office before Mr Little arrived.
At the office, Mr Little was a little lost for words and confused about which house he was earlier meant to be at.
There was a house with a tent in the yard whose occupants his MPs Jenny Salesa and Peeni Henare had been working with, he said.
"I haven't been to that house, I'll need to clarify which one that is - there was a house that I was invited to go and talk to the people of, then asked not to go, people didn't want the level of attention," he explained.
And then to emphasise just how bad it is in Otara, a recovering Mr Little said: "I am told it's pretty much expected, around Otara at least, that if you go past a garage, it's likely that somebody will be living in it."
Ms Stuart, who'd arranged the press conference, called later saying it was never about the house in the background.