The Labour Party has picked their candidate for Christchurch's Ilam seat currently held by Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee.

Riccarton Pastor Anthony Rimell will stand.

Besides his work in the Baptist Church, he's acted as an advocate for Housing New Zealand tenants.

In a blog post outlining the issues he will be standing on, Rimell said housing affordability and availability of mental health services were priorities. 

State houses will be a hot election topic for Ilam.

The Government is planning to sell 2500 of it's stock in the Garden City, many of which are in the electorate.

Mr Brownlee has held the seat since 1996, and has held Ministerial portfolios since 2008.