Living in Riverlea, Hamilton City: rents, schools, census and property titles
The 597 live property titles in Riverlea, Hamilton City are mostly freehold (77%), as recorded by LINZ on 30 September 2026. Cross-lease titles number 52 (8.7%), close to the national share of 8.7%.
Riverlea, Hamilton City cross-lease titles
- Cross-lease titles
- 52
- Share of live titles
- 8.7%
- Live titles in total
- 597
- Hamilton City share
- 11.2%
- New Zealand share
- 8.7%
- Rank by share in Hamilton City
- 20 of 28
- Rank by share in New Zealand
- joint 359 of 644
Riverlea at a glance
Higher or lower is not better or worse. Sources and limits
Start here
What the data tells you
Recorded facts
- Riverlea is listed under Hamilton City.
- 597 live titles are recorded here, including 52 cross-lease titles (8.7%).
- 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 8.7% of the recorded title mix. That describes the suburb, not any particular home.
- Unit titles account for 7.9% 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 Riverlea
| Title type | Live titles | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Freehold | 459 | 76.9% |
| Cross lease | 52 | 8.7% |
| Unit title | 47 | 7.9% |
| Leasehold | 37 | 6.2% |
| Other record types | 2 | 0.3% |
| Total | 597 | 100% |
Counts are titles, not homes; the register can lag conversions, so check the certificate of title. Sources and limits
How Riverlea compares
Nationally, 8.7% of live titles are cross-lease; Riverlea is close to the national share (8.7%).
Across Hamilton City as a whole, the share is 11.2%; Riverlea is lower than the overall Hamilton City share (11.2%).
How cross-leases in Riverlea are set up
Fewer schemes have four or more flats on one section (4%, against 11% nationally).
Fewer schemes refer to more than one flats plan (19%, against 36% nationally), usually because a plan was redrawn.
More leases include a garage (41% of schemes, against 28% nationally).
| Scheme structure | Riverlea | Hamilton City | New Zealand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cross-lease schemes (shared sections) | 27 | 3,528 | 87,651 |
| Two-flat schemes | 96.3% | 81.5% | 76.2% |
| Three-flat schemes | 0.0% | 9.5% | 12.2% |
| Four or more flats | 3.7% | 8.7% | 11.4% |
| Typical section size (from the titles, not a survey) | 937 m² | 1,006 m² | 908 m² |
| Typical land per flat | 458 m² | 465 m² | 408 m² |
| Schemes with a garage written into a lease | 40.7% | 31.0% | 28.4% |
| Schemes with a carport in a lease | 11.1% | 11.9% | 13.3% |
| Schemes with a separate exclusive-use area | 7.4% | 2.9% | 4.5% |
| Schemes referring to more than one flats plan (usually redrawn; not by itself a problem) | 18.5% | 39.0% | 35.6% |
| Median year of earliest current title | 1990 | 1987 | 1988 |
| Two-flat schemes on 700 m² or more | 26 | 2,831 | 54,978 |
Unit titles and leasehold in Riverlea
37 titles (6.2%) are leasehold, well above the national share (1.2%).
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 | 37 |
| Term mentions renewal (including perpetually renewable) | 0 |
| Term not stated or not readable | 0 |
New titles in Riverlea since 2020
24 of Riverlea's current titles (4%) were first issued since 2020, well below Hamilton City's suburbs with new-title figures taken together (13%) and well below New Zealand (12%).
That rate is joint lowest of 28 in Hamilton City.
Most are unit titles: 17 in 1 development (apartments, terraces or townhouses under a body corporate).
Most came recently: 19 since 2023.
| Title type | Since 2020 | Since 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Freehold | 4 | 0 |
| Unit title | 17 | 17 |
| Cross-lease | 2 | 1 |
| Leasehold | 0 | 0 |
| Other | 1 | 1 |
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 Riverlea
The typical building in Riverlea stands on ground sloping 1.6° (read on an 8 m grid, so short steep banks may be understated), in the steepest quarter of 28 in Hamilton City.
Little of the sloping land faces north: 12%, where about a quarter would if slopes faced every way equally.
Slope is not a measure of ground stability. Sources and limits
Distance to the coast from Riverlea
Riverlea is inland: the typical title is 31 km from the sea or harbour edge, and none is 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 Riverlea: 2023 Census
About 100% of Riverlea's titles are in the census area Riverlea (a Stats NZ statistical area), so these figures describe that area, not Riverlea exactly.
More workers walk or cycle to work in Riverlea than across Hamilton City: 8.9% against 6.0%.
More workers work from home in Riverlea than across Hamilton City: 17.6% against 12.5%.
More adults hold a degree in Riverlea than across Hamilton City: 40.1% against 29.0%.
| Measure | Riverlea | Hamilton City whole council |
|---|---|---|
| Usual residents | 2,679 | 174,741 |
| Change since 2018 | −3.5% | +8.6% |
| Change since 2013 | +3.7% | +23.4% |
| Median age | 39.5 | 33.2 |
| Households | 957 | 60,435 |
| Own or part-own their home (including family trusts) | 67.4% | 53.5% |
| Not owned and not in a family trust (mostly renting) | 32.3% | 46.4% |
| Median household income | $102,200 | $96,500 |
| Median weekly rent, renting households | $500 | $465 |
| Dwellings unoccupied on census night | 6.1% | 6.5% |
| Ages | ||
| Under 15 | 20.6% | 20.9% |
| 15 to 29 | 18.4% | 23.4% |
| 30 to 64 | 45.5% | 43.2% |
| 65 and over | 15.6% | 12.5% |
| Where people came from | ||
| Born overseas | 32.6% | 30.4% |
| Of those born overseas, arrived in the last 5 years | 21.5% | 26.6% |
| Lived elsewhere in New Zealand 5 years ago (of all residents, including children born since) | 43.9% | 50.7% |
| Lived overseas 5 years ago (of all residents) | 5.2% | 5.0% |
| Moved here in the last year (of all residents) | 18.2% | 23.9% |
| Work and study (people 15 and over) | ||
| Bachelor degree or higher | 40.1% | 29.0% |
| Employed full-time | 50.6% | 52.6% |
| Unemployed (share of everyone 15 and over, not the unemployment rate) | 3.0% | 3.9% |
| Managers and professionals (of those employed) | 49.5% | 42.7% |
| Median personal income | $46,700 | $42,200 |
| Getting to work (of those employed) | ||
| Work from home | 17.6% | 12.5% |
| Car, truck or van | 70.3% | 77.4% |
| Bus, train or ferry | 2.1% | 2.9% |
| Walk or cycle | 8.9% | 6.0% |
| Households and families | ||
| One-person households | 22.2% | 21.8% |
| Average people per household | 2.7 | 2.8 |
| Households with no motor vehicle | 5.7% | 6.8% |
| Crowded households (need one or more extra bedrooms) | 4.2% | 7.5% |
| Couples with children (of families) | 45.6% | 43.3% |
| Couples without children | 35.9% | 35.8% |
| One-parent families | 19.0% | 21.0% |
| Homes | ||
| Separate (stand-alone) houses | 83.1% | 73.5% |
| Average bedrooms | 3.3 | 3 |
| Heated with a heat pump | 68.3% | 77.6% |
| Damp, always or sometimes | 21.2% | 18.8% |
| Mould over A4 size, always or sometimes | 16.7% | 15.3% |
Rents around Riverlea
New tenancies in Riverlea in the April–June 2026 quarter had a median rent of $630 a week. That is slightly above the typical suburb in Hamilton City ($580), and close to the national median ($600); in the highest quarter of 24 in Hamilton City.
| April–June 2026 | Riverlea | New Zealand |
|---|---|---|
| Median weekly rent, new tenancies | $630 | $600 |
| Middle half of rents | $580–$680 | $490–$700 |
| Change in median on a year earlier | — | +0.2% |
| Bonds lodged in the quarter | 21 | 40,827 |
Schools and hospitals near Riverlea
No school site lies inside Riverlea's boundary; the nearest is Berkley Normal Middle School, 0.8 km away in a straight line.
- Nearest school: Berkley Normal Middle School (0.8 km)
- Nearest secondary school: Hillcrest High School (1.8 km)
- Nearest public general hospital: Waikato Hospital (3.9 km)
School enrolment zones in Riverlea: a guide
One secondary school has a home zone covering most of Riverlea's titles: Hillcrest High School.
- Hillcrest Normal School (primary, Years 1–6): all or nearly all titles
- Marian Catholic School (Hamilton) (primary, Years 1–8): all or nearly all titles
- Berkley Normal Middle School (restricted composite): all or nearly all titles
- Hillcrest High School (secondary): 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 Riverlea
No place of worship is mapped in OpenStreetMap inside Riverlea's boundary.
Nearest mapped place of each tradition within 10 km:
- Christian: St Francis Community Church / St Francis Cooperating Church, 1.0 km away
- Muslim: Jamia Masjid, 5.3 km away
Listed as facilities for access; not an indicator of who lives here. Sources and limits
Other suburbs in Hamilton City with many cross-leases
- Nawton: 1,058 cross-lease titles (26.3%)
- Hamilton East: 1,027 cross-lease titles (15.9%)
- Frankton: 675 cross-lease titles (13.7%)
- Dinsdale: 643 cross-lease titles (17.9%)
- Fairfield: 473 cross-lease titles (17.8%)
- St Andrews: 411 cross-lease titles (17.4%)
- Hillcrest: 345 cross-lease titles (12.2%)
- Claudelands: 333 cross-lease titles (25.2%)
Suburbs like Riverlea
The closest match on the measures on this site is Queenwood in Hamilton City, nearest on schools, older residents, cross-lease share. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Queenwood | Hamilton City | 9.2% | $640 | 38.5 | schools, older residents, cross-lease share |
| Awapuni, Palmerston North City | Palmerston North City | 4.1% | $600 | 37.4 | distance to the coast, children, older residents |
| Pukete | Hamilton City | 6.8% | $618 | 36 | commuting by public transport, rent, unit-title share |
| Glenview | Hamilton City | 9.9% | No data | 36.1 | slope, household income, older residents |
| Terrace End | Palmerston North City | 6.7% | $600 | 35.5 | elevation, commuting by public transport, older residents |
Questions
What is the rent in Riverlea, Hamilton City?
New tenancies in the Riverlea rent area had a median rent of $630 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 $580 to $680.
What schools are in Riverlea, Hamilton City?
No school site lies inside Riverlea's boundary. The nearest school is Berkley Normal Middle School (0.8 km in a straight line). The secondary-school home zone covering most of its titles is Hillcrest High School; check the school's own zone map for any address.