National MP Chester Borrows advises first home buyers to get on the property ladder early and 'don't expect a mansion'.

As the owner of two houses, outgoing Whanganui MP Chester Borrows has some advice for first home buyers: watch Sky at a mate's and drive an old car.

"My advice is get on the ladder early and slightly over-extend beyond your comfort level. Don't expect a mansion," he said.

"Have friends with Sky or watch the rugby at the pub. Drive a five to ten-year-old car that will start every time but won't lose thousands of dollars as soon as you drive out of the yard."

123RF Statistics NZ figures show 63 per cent of New Zealand households own the property they're living in - a rate that's steadily declined since 1991 when 73 per cent of Kiwis owned a home.

But Borrows is no property magnate compared to other politicians. Figures released this week showed that between them, 116 MPs own or have an interest in 302 properties and 53 of those MPs have a stake in three or more properties.

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Nevertheless, Borrows has more tips for those trying to get on the property ladder.

"Expect to limit your lifestyle; cut your own lunch, eat at home or go for picnics.

Other advice was to take holidays within New Zealand and even just the wider region for five years and stay in motorcamps not hotels.

Once people had bought a house, his advice was to pay lump sums off the mortgage as soon as possible, and think carefully before doing renovations.

"Don't over capitalise on bells and whistles in the house, but make low cost but high quality renovations on the advice of the estate agent you will be using to sell the house."

Borrows said when he and his wife, Ella, were buying their first home, it was tough.

"It was much, much harder to buy a first home in Taranaki in the mid to late 1980s than it is now. Remember interest rates were over 18 per cent, inflation was close to double-digit and wages were not keeping pace, and house prices were rising in the 1980s and 1990s very fast," he said.

Now, they were watching as their own children wanted to buy their own homes.

"We see them struggling to save, especially wanting to buy in say Christchurch or Wellington where they live. My son has bought in Calgary and both he and his wife are only modest incomes."

Borrows said sky-rocketing house values were not the norm outside of Auckland.

"I own two properties, my home in Hawera and a flat in Wellington. The flat in Wellington cost $283,000 and had an RV of $267,000 at the time (2007). Ten years previously my colleague was offered the flat for $110,000 and was kicking himself. So in the ten years 1997 – 2007 it went up 2.5 times. In the next ten years it has gone up approximately $50,000."

MP for New Plymouth Jonathan Young took a hands-on approach to getting his first home.

"My first home was a small 1000 square foot, three bedroom house which was a new build, with myself as the project manager. I put in a huge amount of work myself in preparing the building site, searching out bargain price materials, even building the kitchen myself to save costs."

He built two more houses, each time doing an enormous amount of work himself, he said.

"For the last house I had built, I spent my summer holidays digging the foundations (with my builder) – but I did all the digging and a huge amount of other work, mainly painting and work on the grounds. That saved thousands of dollars."

In the 1980s he moved to Auckland and bought a house there.

"Interest rates were 22.75%. Over 50% of our combined income was spent on servicing our mortgage. It was tough."

Recent estimates from Statistics NZ show 63 per cent of New Zealand households own the property they're living in - a rate that's steadily declined since 1991 when 73 per cent of Kiwis owned a home.