Living in Kingswell: rents, schools, census and property titles
The 1,161 live property titles in Kingswell, Invercargill City are almost all freehold (97%), as recorded by LINZ on 30 September 2026. Cross-lease titles number 39 (3.4%), well below the national share of 8.7%.
- Cross-lease titles
- 39
- Share of live titles
- 3.4%
- Live titles in total
- 1,161
- Invercargill City share
- 7.3%
- New Zealand share
- 8.7%
- Rank by share in Invercargill City
- 15 of 15
- Rank by share in New Zealand
- joint 562 of 644
Kingswell at a glance
Higher or lower is not better or worse. Sources and limits
Start here
What the data tells you
Recorded facts
- Kingswell is listed under Invercargill City.
- 1,161 live titles are recorded here, including 39 cross-lease titles (3.4%).
- 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 3.4% of the recorded title mix. That describes the suburb, not any particular home.
- 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 Kingswell
| Title type | Live titles | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Freehold | 1,121 | 96.6% |
| Cross lease | 39 | 3.4% |
| Unit title | 0 | 0.0% |
| Leasehold | 0 | 0.0% |
| Other record types | 1 | 0.1% |
| Total | 1,161 | 100% |
Counts are titles, not homes; the register can lag conversions, so check the certificate of title. Sources and limits
How Kingswell compares
Nationally, 8.7% of live titles are cross-lease; Kingswell is well below the national share (8.7%).
Across Invercargill City as a whole, the share is 7.3%; Kingswell is well below the overall Invercargill City share (7.3%).
Its cross-lease share is the lowest of 15 in Invercargill City (among suburbs with an indexed page on this site).
How cross-leases in Kingswell are set up
More schemes have four or more flats on one section (46%, against 11% nationally), up to 9.
Fewer schemes refer to more than one flats plan (18%, against 36% nationally), usually because a plan was redrawn.
Two-flat schemes are less common here (46% of schemes, against 76% nationally).
| Scheme structure | Kingswell | Invercargill City | New Zealand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cross-lease schemes (shared sections) | 11 | 714 | 87,651 |
| Two-flat schemes | 45.5% | 53.8% | 76.2% |
| Three-flat schemes | 9.1% | 22.8% | 12.2% |
| Four or more flats | 45.5% | 22.7% | 11.4% |
| Typical section size (from the titles, not a survey) | 809 m² | 994 m² | 908 m² |
| Typical land per flat | 358 m² | 362 m² | 408 m² |
| Schemes with a garage written into a lease | 18.2% | 33.6% | 28.4% |
| Schemes with a carport in a lease | 18.2% | 16.1% | 13.3% |
| Schemes with a separate exclusive-use area | 0.0% | 1.7% | 4.5% |
| Schemes referring to more than one flats plan (usually redrawn; not by itself a problem) | 18.2% | 23.0% | 35.6% |
| Median year of earliest current title | 1990 | 1982 | 1988 |
| Two-flat schemes on 700 m² or more | 5 | 326 | 54,978 |
New titles in Kingswell since 2020
90 of Kingswell's current titles (8%) were first issued since 2020, slightly above Invercargill City's suburbs with new-title figures taken together (7%) and well below New Zealand (12%).
That rate is 2nd highest of 15 in Invercargill City.
| Title type | Since 2020 | Since 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Freehold | 90 | 40 |
| Unit title | 0 | 0 |
| Cross-lease | 0 | 0 |
| Leasehold | 0 | 0 |
| Other | 0 | 0 |
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 Kingswell
The typical building in Kingswell stands on ground sloping 1.0° (read on an 8 m grid, so short steep banks may be understated).
Nearly all of its 1,832 measured buildings (99%) stand on ground under 5°.
Much of the land is low-lying: the median elevation is 8 m.
Slope is not a measure of ground stability. Sources and limits
Distance to the coast from Kingswell
0% of Kingswell's titles are within 200 m of the sea or harbour edge, 0% within 500 m and 11% within 1 km. The typical title is 1.4 km away.
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 Kingswell: 2023 Census
About 84% of Kingswell's titles are in the census area Kingswell (a Stats NZ statistical area), so these figures describe that area, not Kingswell exactly.
Fewer workers walk or cycle to work in Kingswell than across Invercargill City: 3.4% against 5.6%.
Fewer adults hold a degree in Kingswell than across Invercargill City: 11.7% against 17.6%.
| Measure | Kingswell | Invercargill City whole council |
|---|---|---|
| Usual residents | 2,280 | 55,599 |
| Change since 2018 | +2.2% | +2.6% |
| Change since 2013 | +9.4% | +7.5% |
| Median age | 37.1 | 40 |
| Households | 903 | 22,125 |
| Own or part-own their home (including family trusts) | 75.4% | 72.4% |
| Not owned and not in a family trust (mostly renting) | 24.9% | 27.6% |
| Median household income | $77,900 | $80,900 |
| Median weekly rent, renting households | $360 | $350 |
| Dwellings unoccupied on census night | 4.1% | 6.8% |
| Ages | ||
| Under 15 | 19.6% | 18.4% |
| 15 to 29 | 19.1% | 18.0% |
| 30 to 64 | 44.3% | 45.1% |
| 65 and over | 16.7% | 18.4% |
| Where people came from | ||
| Born overseas | 13.1% | 14.9% |
| Of those born overseas, arrived in the last 5 years | 22.7% | 32.7% |
| Lived elsewhere in New Zealand 5 years ago (of all residents, including children born since) | 42.4% | 42.9% |
| Lived overseas 5 years ago (of all residents) | 2.1% | 3.3% |
| Moved here in the last year (of all residents) | 17.9% | 17.7% |
| Work and study (people 15 and over) | ||
| Bachelor degree or higher | 11.7% | 17.6% |
| Employed full-time | 53.7% | 51.6% |
| Unemployed (share of everyone 15 and over, not the unemployment rate) | 2.8% | 2.6% |
| Managers and professionals (of those employed) | 24.8% | 34.8% |
| Median personal income | $40,600 | $39,900 |
| Getting to work (of those employed) | ||
| Work from home | 7.3% | 9.2% |
| Car, truck or van | 87.3% | 83.5% |
| Bus, train or ferry | 0.7% | 0.6% |
| Walk or cycle | 3.4% | 5.6% |
| Households and families | ||
| One-person households | 27.4% | 29.0% |
| Average people per household | 2.4 | 2.4 |
| Households with no motor vehicle | 5.6% | 6.6% |
| Crowded households (need one or more extra bedrooms) | 3.5% | 3.4% |
| Couples with children (of families) | 33.2% | 38.0% |
| Couples without children | 43.9% | 43.5% |
| One-parent families | 22.4% | 18.4% |
| Homes | ||
| Separate (stand-alone) houses | 93.4% | 87.7% |
| Average bedrooms | 3.1 | 3 |
| Heated with a heat pump | 78.2% | 79.6% |
| Damp, always or sometimes | 14.7% | 15.4% |
| Mould over A4 size, always or sometimes | 11.7% | 11.3% |
Rents around Kingswell
New tenancies in Kingswell in the April–June 2026 quarter had a median rent of $550 a week (up 5.8% on a year earlier). That is close to the typical suburb in Invercargill City ($523), and slightly below the national median ($600); 2nd highest of 11 in Invercargill City.
| April–June 2026 | Kingswell | New Zealand |
|---|---|---|
| Median weekly rent, new tenancies | $550 | $600 |
| Middle half of rents | $523–$574 | $490–$700 |
| Change in median on a year earlier | +5.8% | +0.2% |
| Bonds lodged in the quarter | 12 | 40,827 |
Schools and hospitals near Kingswell
No school site lies inside Kingswell's boundary; the nearest is New River Primary, 1.1 km away in a straight line.
- Nearest school: New River Primary (1.1 km)
- Nearest secondary school: Aurora College (1.5 km)
- Nearest public general hospital: Southland Hospital (1.1 km)
School enrolment zones in Kingswell: a guide
One secondary school has a home zone covering most of Kingswell's titles: Verdon College.
- St Patrick's School (Invercargill) (primary, Years 1–6): all or nearly all titles
- Southland Adventist Christian School (primary, Years 1–8): all or nearly all titles
- St John's Girls' School (Invercargill) (primary, Years 1–8): all or nearly all titles
- Verdon College (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 Kingswell
No place of worship is mapped in OpenStreetMap inside Kingswell's boundary.
Nearest mapped place of each tradition within 10 km:
- Christian: St Patrick's Invercargill, 1.9 km away
- Muslim: Southland Muslims Association Masjid, 3.8 km away
Listed as facilities for access; not an indicator of who lives here. Sources and limits
Other suburbs in Invercargill City with many cross-leases
- Windsor: 400 cross-lease titles (22.5%)
- Appleby: 335 cross-lease titles (19.5%)
- Richmond: 230 cross-lease titles (19.2%)
- Strathern: 191 cross-lease titles (11.2%)
- Gladstone: 129 cross-lease titles (11.3%)
- Waikiwi: 128 cross-lease titles (8.3%)
- Invercargill: 89 cross-lease titles (10.7%)
- Grasmere: 80 cross-lease titles (6.1%)
All suburbs in Invercargill City
Suburbs like Kingswell
The closest match on the measures on this site is Grasmere in Invercargill City, nearest on unit-title share, commuting by public transport, home ownership. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grasmere | Invercargill City | 6.1% | $540 | 35.7 | unit-title share, commuting by public transport, home ownership |
| Strathern | Invercargill City | 11.2% | No data | 38 | slope, unit-title share, distance to the coast |
| Newfield | Invercargill City | 3.8% | $560 | 40.6 | damp homes, slope, household income |
| Hawthorndale | Invercargill City | 5.8% | $523 | 38.1 | unit-title share, slope, elevation |
| Glengarry, Invercargill City | Invercargill City | 4.3% | $505 | 36 | unit-title share, population change, elevation |
Questions
What is the rent in Kingswell?
New tenancies in the Kingswell rent area had a median rent of $550 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 $523 to $574.
What schools are in Kingswell?
No school site lies inside Kingswell's boundary. The nearest school is New River Primary (1.1 km in a straight line). The secondary-school home zone covering most of its titles is Verdon College; check the school's own zone map for any address.