A Stocktake of New Zealand’s Housing by the numbers

Key findings

o There are now more than 1.9 million private dwellings in New Zealand, providing housing for 4.9 million New Zealanders – an occupancy rate of 2.6 people per dwelling.

o 70% of the new households formed over the past decade are renters.

o 574,000 households in New Zealand are renters.

o 190,000 of private tenant houses receive the Accommodation Supplement.

o There were 6,182 households in need of a state house in the December 2017 quarter.

o Of households paying more than 40% of their income in housing, 60-65% are tenants, despite renters making up 36% of households overall.

o Population growth outstripped housing stock growth by 2.1 per cent resulting in the housing shortage

o The proportion of children younger than 15 living in rental dwellings increased more than for the total population between 1986 and 2013, from 26.1% to 43.1% – up 65%.

o From 2012-2017 rents for three-bedroom homes rose 25% while wages rose just 14%.

o This average cost of building a house is now $395,000 nationally and $455,000 in Auckland. This does not include the cost of land.

o Over the last decade Auckland has accounted for 30 per cent of new dwelling consents but received 47 per cent of New Zealand’s population growth

o Over the last decade the number of dwellings owned or managed by Housing NZ peaked in mid-2011 at 69,717 units falling to 62,917 units in June 2017

o A recent BRANZ report found that 36 per cent of Auckland tenants who moved in the past two years did so because the house they were renting had been sold

o 29 per cent of New Zealand households struggled to afford their power bills, spent a larger part of their income on power, or often felt cold

o 32 per cent of rental properties are being ‘poorly maintained’ compared to 14 per cent of owner-occupied properties.

o The number of MSD housing assessments rose from 40% to 58% in the past year.

o Child asthma was estimated to have cost $58.3 million in 2013.