Living in Waipawa: rents, schools, census and property titles
The 1,686 live property titles in Waipawa, Central Hawke's Bay District are almost all freehold (96%), as recorded by LINZ on 30 September 2026. Cross-lease titles number 30 (1.8%), well below the national share of 8.7%.
- Cross-lease titles
- 30
- Share of live titles
- 1.8%
- Live titles in total
- 1,686
- Central Hawke's Bay District share
- 0.8%
- New Zealand share
- 8.7%
- Rank by share in Central Hawke's Bay District
- 1 of 2
- Rank by share in New Zealand
- joint 617 of 644
Waipawa at a glance
Where Waipawa differs most from suburbs across New Zealand: cross-lease share of titles (lower than 96% of NZ suburbs).
Higher or lower is not better or worse. Sources and limits
Start here
What the data tells you
Recorded facts
- Waipawa is listed under Central Hawke's Bay District.
- 1,686 live titles are recorded here, including 30 cross-lease titles (1.8%).
- The page includes 2023 Census context for the statistical area that represents this suburb.
- The page includes MBIE new-tenancy rent figures for April–June 2026.
Contextual observations
- Cross-lease titles make up 1.8% of the recorded title mix. That describes the suburb, not any particular home.
- Unit titles account for 0.7% of recorded titles, so title structure can vary within the suburb.
- Coast distance is a suburb-level map measure, not a flood or hazard assessment.
Questions worth investigating
- For any cross-lease property you consider, do the current title, flats plan and lease match what is built today?
- What do the LIM, council property file and a suitable inspection add for the specific address?
No data held for this suburb
- Mapped public-transport context is not available for this suburb.
Title mix in Waipawa
| Title type | Live titles | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Freehold | 1,620 | 96.1% |
| Cross lease | 30 | 1.8% |
| Unit title | 12 | 0.7% |
| Leasehold | 16 | 0.9% |
| Other record types | 8 | 0.5% |
| Total | 1,686 | 100% |
Counts are titles, not homes; the register can lag conversions, so check the certificate of title. Sources and limits
How Waipawa compares
Nationally, 8.7% of live titles are cross-lease; Waipawa is well below the national share (8.7%).
Across Central Hawke's Bay District as a whole, the share is 0.8%; Waipawa is about 2.3 times the overall Central Hawke's Bay District share (0.8%).
How cross-leases in Waipawa are set up
More schemes have four or more flats on one section (31%, against 11% nationally), up to 8.
Fewer leases include a garage (15% of schemes, against 28% nationally).
Separate exclusive-use areas are more common (8% of schemes, against 5% nationally).
| Scheme structure | Waipawa | Central Hawke's Bay District | New Zealand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cross-lease schemes (shared sections) | 13 | 40 | 87,651 |
| Two-flat schemes | 69.2% | 65.0% | 76.2% |
| Three-flat schemes | 0.0% | 10.0% | 12.2% |
| Four or more flats | 30.8% | 25.0% | 11.4% |
| Typical section size (from the titles, not a survey) | 1,011 m² | 1,024 m² | 908 m² |
| Typical land per flat | 381 m² | 396 m² | 408 m² |
| Schemes with a garage written into a lease | 15.4% | 10.0% | 28.4% |
| Schemes with a carport in a lease | 0.0% | 5.0% | 13.3% |
| Schemes with a separate exclusive-use area | 7.7% | 5.0% | 4.5% |
| Schemes referring to more than one flats plan (usually redrawn; not by itself a problem) | 23.1% | 37.5% | 35.6% |
| Median year of earliest current title | 1993 | 1993 | 1988 |
| Two-flat schemes on 700 m² or more | 7 | 23 | 54,978 |
Unit titles and leasehold in Waipawa
16 titles (0.9%) are leasehold.
Most stated terms have more than 50 years to run.
Stated lease terms, as at 30 September 2026:
| Stated lease term | Titles |
|---|---|
| Stated term has ended | 0 |
| Under 10 years left | 0 |
| 10 to 50 years left | 0 |
| More than 50 years left | 16 |
| Term mentions renewal (including perpetually renewable) | 0 |
| Term not stated or not readable | 0 |
New titles in Waipawa since 2020
247 of Waipawa's current titles (15%) were first issued since 2020, close to Central Hawke's Bay District's suburbs with new-title figures taken together (16%) and above New Zealand (12%).
| Title type | Since 2020 | Since 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Freehold | 245 | 99 |
| Unit title | 0 | 0 |
| Cross-lease | 0 | 0 |
| Leasehold | 0 | 0 |
| Other | 2 | 2 |
New titles include cross-leases converted to freehold and titles re-issued; they are not a count of new homes. Sources and limits
The lie of the land in Waipawa
The typical building in Waipawa stands on ground sloping 1.6° (read on an 8 m grid, so short steep banks may be understated).
The land rises from about 89 m to 379 m, and 21% of all of it, including reserves and gullies, is 15° or steeper.
Slope is not a measure of ground stability. Sources and limits
Distance to the coast from Waipawa
Waipawa is inland: the typical title is 27 km from the sea or harbour edge, and fewer than 1 in 2,000 titles are within 1 km of it.
Measured in a straight line from the centre of each title's land to the coastline on LINZ's 1:50k topographic map, which follows harbours and estuaries as well as the open coast; lakes and rivers are not included. Distance says nothing about beach access, views or exposure to coastal hazards; council hazard maps and the LIM describe those.
Who lives around Waipawa: 2023 Census
About 71% of Waipawa's titles are in the census area Waipāwa (a Stats NZ statistical area), so these figures describe that area, not Waipawa exactly.
Fewer workers work from home in Waipāwa than across Central Hawke's Bay District: 12.0% against 23.3%.
| Measure | Waipāwa | Makaretu | Mangarara | Central Hawke's Bay District whole council |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Usual residents | 2,334 | 2,637 | 2,802 | 15,480 |
| Change since 2018 | +11.9% | +8.5% | +16.8% | +9.5% |
| Change since 2013 | +18.4% | +14.9% | +35.0% | +21.7% |
| Median age | 41.7 | 42.1 | 43.2 | 43.5 |
| Households | 879 | 924 | 1,047 | 5,874 |
| Own or part-own their home (including family trusts) | 80.2% | 73.7% | 81.4% | 76.3% |
| Not owned and not in a family trust (mostly renting) | 20.1% | 26.6% | 19.2% | 23.6% |
| Median household income | $74,300 | $89,000 | $94,500 | $80,800 |
| Median weekly rent, renting households | $300 | $254 | $250 | $290 |
| Dwellings unoccupied on census night | 8.2% | 12.3% | 23.5% | 13.6% |
| Ages | ||||
| Under 15 | 21.7% | 20.7% | 20.8% | 20.3% |
| 15 to 29 | 13.6% | 14.3% | 12.1% | 14.1% |
| 30 to 64 | 44.7% | 47.6% | 47.6% | 44.3% |
| 65 and over | 19.9% | 17.4% | 19.6% | 21.2% |
| Where people came from | ||||
| Born overseas | 14.1% | 15.6% | 14.9% | 13.0% |
| Of those born overseas, arrived in the last 5 years | 13.0% | 21.1% | 18.4% | 15.5% |
| Lived elsewhere in New Zealand 5 years ago (of all residents, including children born since) | 43.6% | 42.1% | 43.4% | 44.0% |
| Lived overseas 5 years ago (of all residents) | 2.6% | 3.2% | 3.3% | 2.8% |
| Moved here in the last year (of all residents) | 14.0% | 16.3% | 16.1% | 15.3% |
| Work and study (people 15 and over) | ||||
| Bachelor degree or higher | 16.2% | 18.3% | 20.6% | 16.8% |
| Employed full-time | 49.8% | 54.1% | 54.1% | 50.9% |
| Unemployed (share of everyone 15 and over, not the unemployment rate) | 2.6% | 2.0% | 1.6% | 2.3% |
| Managers and professionals (of those employed) | 36.3% | 44.0% | 45.7% | 41.2% |
| Median personal income | $37,900 | $40,100 | $42,400 | $38,800 |
| Getting to work (of those employed) | ||||
| Work from home | 12.0% | 27.7% | 30.5% | 23.3% |
| Car, truck or van | 83.8% | 65.2% | 66.5% | 72.1% |
| Bus, train or ferry | 0.3% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.1% |
| Walk or cycle | 3.1% | 3.4% | 1.6% | 3.2% |
| Households and families | ||||
| One-person households | 29.7% | 18.6% | 19.3% | 25.0% |
| Average people per household | 2.5 | 2.7 | 2.6 | 2.5 |
| Households with no motor vehicle | 4.5% | 0.8% | 1.0% | 3.5% |
| Crowded households (need one or more extra bedrooms) | 5.1% | 4.5% | 3.1% | 4.4% |
| Couples with children (of families) | 42.8% | 41.5% | 38.1% | 38.3% |
| Couples without children | 42.8% | 47.2% | 52.1% | 48.1% |
| One-parent families | 15.0% | 11.8% | 9.8% | 13.6% |
| Homes | ||||
| Separate (stand-alone) houses | 87.8% | 94.2% | 95.2% | 90.7% |
| Average bedrooms | 2.9 | 3.3 | 3.3 | 3.2 |
| Heated with a heat pump | 59.5% | 42.4% | 52.1% | 54.1% |
| Damp, always or sometimes | 21.5% | 21.1% | 17.7% | 18.7% |
| Mould over A4 size, always or sometimes | 14.0% | 14.0% | 13.8% | 12.7% |
Rents around Waipawa
New tenancies in Waipawa in the April–June 2026 quarter had a median rent of $580 a week (up 0.9% on a year earlier). That is close to the national median ($600).
| April–June 2026 | Waipawa | New Zealand |
|---|---|---|
| Median weekly rent, new tenancies | $580 | $600 |
| Middle half of rents | $505–$620 | $490–$700 |
| Change in median on a year earlier | +0.9% | +0.2% |
| Bonds lodged in the quarter | 15 | 40,827 |
Schools and hospitals near Waipawa
One school site lies inside Waipawa: Waipawa School (Full Primary).
- Waipawa School (Full Primary)
- Nearest school: Waipawa School (3.1 km)
- Nearest secondary school: Central Hawkes Bay College (9.3 km)
- Nearest public general hospital: Hawke's Bay Hospital (38.6 km)
School enrolment zones in Waipawa: a guide
The largest primary-school zone share of Waipawa's titles is in Waipawa Primary School's home zone (about 95%).
- Waipawa Primary School (primary, Years 1–8): about 95% of titles
- Taikura Rudolf Steiner School (composite): all or nearly all titles
A guide only: check the school's own zone map for any address. Zones as at 14 July 2026. Sources and limits
Places of worship near Waipawa
OpenStreetMap maps 4 places of worship inside Waipawa (4 Christian).
Nearest mapped place of each tradition within 10 km:
- Christian: St. Peters Anglian Church, 2.7 km away
Listed as facilities for access; not an indicator of who lives here. Sources and limits
Suburbs like Waipawa
The closest match on the measures on this site is Waipukurau in Central Hawke's Bay District, nearest on slope, cross-lease share, commuting by public transport. Closeness is arithmetic, not a rating. Sources and limits
| Suburb | Council | Cross-lease share of titles | Median weekly rent, new tenancies | Median age | Closest on |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waipukurau | Central Hawke's Bay District | 1.7% | No data | 44.8 | slope, cross-lease share, commuting by public transport |
| Putāruru | South Waikato District | 2.5% | $530 | 43.1 | commuting by public transport, unit-title share, cross-lease share |
| Stratford | Stratford District | 4.4% | $560 | 43 | unit-title share, slope, damp homes |
| Inglewood | New Plymouth District | 3.5% | $555 | 38.5 | commuting by public transport, unit-title share, damp homes |
| Kawerau | Kawerau District | 3.8% | $550 | 41.4 | commuting on foot or by bike, median age, commuting by public transport |
Questions
What is the rent in Waipawa?
New tenancies in the Waipawa rent area had a median rent of $580 a week in the April–June 2026 quarter (MBIE bond data, all dwelling types). These are rents agreed for new tenancies, not asking rents. The middle half of those rents ran from $505 to $620.
What schools are in Waipawa?
LINZ maps 1 school site inside Waipawa: Waipawa School. The nearest secondary school to its centre is Central Hawkes Bay College (9.3 km in a straight line). Being near a school does not mean being in its zone.