There's concern first home buyers could be priced out of the market if KiwiBuild homes have to be built to a higher standard.

A new report says Kiwis could miss out on nearly 700 million of household savings and social benefits if the homes are only built to the minimum legal standards.

Property Institute chief executive Ashley Church told Kate Hawkesby we should be building homes to a higher standards because there are health and social benefits.

However, he says even a few thousand dollars added to the cost could be the difference between people being able to afford a house or not.

"But in respect of the KiwiBuild programme, I think you either need to make that voluntary, you need to be able to say to people hey look we can build them to that standard if you want to but ultimately people are still adults, you're still making democratic choices."

LISTEN ABOVE AS ASHLEY CHURCH SPEAKS TO KATE HAWKESBY