Living in Kawerau: rents, schools, census and property titles
The 3,021 live property titles in Kawerau, Kawerau District are almost all freehold (92%), as recorded by LINZ on 30 September 2026. Cross-lease titles number 114 (3.8%), well below the national share of 8.7%.
- Cross-lease titles
- 114
- Share of live titles
- 3.8%
- Live titles in total
- 3,021
- Kawerau District share
- 3.8%
- New Zealand share
- 8.7%
- Rank by share in Kawerau District
- 1 of 1
- Rank by share in New Zealand
- joint 549 of 644
Kawerau at a glance
Where Kawerau differs most from suburbs across New Zealand: titles first issued since 2020 (lower than 94% of NZ suburbs).
Higher or lower is not better or worse. Sources and limits
Start here
What the data tells you
Recorded facts
- Kawerau is listed under Kawerau District.
- 3,021 live titles are recorded here, including 114 cross-lease titles (3.8%).
- 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 3.8% of the recorded title mix. That describes the suburb, not any particular home.
- Unit titles account for 2.8% 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 Kawerau
| Title type | Live titles | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Freehold | 2,794 | 92.5% |
| Cross lease | 114 | 3.8% |
| Unit title | 84 | 2.8% |
| Leasehold | 13 | 0.4% |
| Other record types | 16 | 0.5% |
| Total | 3,021 | 100% |
Counts are titles, not homes; the register can lag conversions, so check the certificate of title. Sources and limits
How Kawerau compares
Nationally, 8.7% of live titles are cross-lease; Kawerau is well below the national share (8.7%).
Across Kawerau District as a whole, the share is 3.8%; Kawerau is close to the overall Kawerau District share (3.8%).
How cross-leases in Kawerau are set up
Fewer schemes refer to more than one flats plan (5%, against 36% nationally), usually because a plan was redrawn.
More schemes have four or more flats on one section (32%, against 11% nationally), up to 8.
Separate exclusive-use areas are less common (2% of schemes, against 5% nationally).
| Scheme structure | Kawerau | New Zealand |
|---|---|---|
| Cross-lease schemes (shared sections) | 44 | 87,651 |
| Two-flat schemes | 61.4% | 76.2% |
| Three-flat schemes | 6.8% | 12.2% |
| Four or more flats | 31.8% | 11.4% |
| Typical section size (from the titles, not a survey) | 1,004 m² | 908 m² |
| Typical land per flat | 372 m² | 408 m² |
| Schemes with a garage written into a lease | 15.9% | 28.4% |
| Schemes with a carport in a lease | 13.6% | 13.3% |
| Schemes with a separate exclusive-use area | 2.3% | 4.5% |
| Schemes referring to more than one flats plan (usually redrawn; not by itself a problem) | 4.5% | 35.6% |
| Median year of earliest current title | 1988 | 1988 |
| Two-flat schemes on 700 m² or more | 24 | 54,978 |
Unit titles and leasehold in Kawerau
Unit titles are 3% of Kawerau's titles, close to Kawerau District (3%) and well below New Zealand (8%). They belong to 3 developments, each run by a body corporate; half have 30 units or fewer.
13 titles (0.4%) are leasehold.
1 of them have a stated term that has ended or has under 10 years to run, which is worth reading closely in the lease.
Stated lease terms, as at 30 September 2026:
| Stated lease term | Titles |
|---|---|
| Stated term has ended | 1 |
| Under 10 years left | 0 |
| 10 to 50 years left | 0 |
| More than 50 years left | 8 |
| Term mentions renewal (including perpetually renewable) | 3 |
| Term not stated or not readable | 1 |
New titles in Kawerau since 2020
71 of Kawerau's current titles (2%) were first issued since 2020, close to Kawerau District's suburbs with new-title figures taken together (2%) and well below New Zealand (12%).
| Title type | Since 2020 | Since 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Freehold | 70 | 24 |
| Unit title | 0 | 0 |
| Cross-lease | 0 | 0 |
| Leasehold | 1 | 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 Kawerau
The typical building in Kawerau stands on ground sloping 0.8° (read on an 8 m grid, so short steep banks may be understated).
Nearly all of its 5,356 measured buildings (97%) stand on ground under 5°.
The land rises from about 15 m to 243 m, and 34% 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 Kawerau
Kawerau is inland: the typical title is 23 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 Kawerau: 2023 Census
Kawerau's titles fall in 5 census areas (Stats NZ statistical areas). The 3 shown below hold 96% of its titles; their figures are shown side by side and are not added together.
Fewer households have no car in Monika Reserve than across Kawerau District: 3.2% against 6.4%.
| Measure | Monika Reserve 43% of titles | Kawerau Central 35% of titles | Tarawera Park 18% of titles | Kawerau District whole council |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Usual residents | 3,297 | 2,634 | 1,530 | 7,539 |
| Change since 2018 | +4.9% | +5.8% | +3.2% | +5.5% |
| Change since 2013 | +16.2% | +20.3% | +18.9% | +18.5% |
| Median age | 41.4 | 34.2 | 40.8 | 38.6 |
| Households | 1,137 | 720 | 504 | 2,409 |
| Own or part-own their home (including family trusts) | 78.1% | 65.4% | 72.6% | 72.1% |
| Not owned and not in a family trust (mostly renting) | 21.9% | 34.2% | 27.4% | 27.9% |
| Median household income | $72,800 | $58,300 | $53,400 | $61,900 |
| Median weekly rent, renting households | $328 | $335 | $330 | $310 |
| Dwellings unoccupied on census night | 8.4% | 20.2% | 13.6% | 14.2% |
| Ages | ||||
| Under 15 | 20.0% | 24.9% | 22.7% | 22.3% |
| 15 to 29 | 17.7% | 19.5% | 14.5% | 17.7% |
| 30 to 64 | 39.6% | 41.0% | 36.9% | 39.7% |
| 65 and over | 22.6% | 14.4% | 26.1% | 20.3% |
| Where people came from | ||||
| Born overseas | 10.6% | 8.7% | 11.9% | 10.1% |
| Of those born overseas, arrived in the last 5 years | 11.5% | 17.6% | 17.2% | 14.6% |
| Lived elsewhere in New Zealand 5 years ago (of all residents, including children born since) | 37.8% | 46.0% | 43.1% | 42.1% |
| Lived overseas 5 years ago (of all residents) | 2.3% | 3.5% | 3.2% | 3.0% |
| Moved here in the last year (of all residents) | 12.7% | 17.9% | 16.1% | 15.6% |
| Work and study (people 15 and over) | ||||
| Bachelor degree or higher | 10.0% | 6.9% | 11.7% | 9.3% |
| Employed full-time | 41.9% | 33.7% | 37.2% | 37.9% |
| Unemployed (share of everyone 15 and over, not the unemployment rate) | 5.0% | 12.8% | 6.8% | 8.2% |
| Managers and professionals (of those employed) | 31.5% | 25.5% | 35.5% | 30.4% |
| Median personal income | $30,600 | $28,900 | $28,300 | $29,200 |
| Getting to work (of those employed) | ||||
| Work from home | 9.0% | 9.4% | 8.7% | 9.0% |
| Car, truck or van | 86.9% | 82.9% | 86.3% | 85.5% |
| Bus, train or ferry | 0.0% | 0.3% | 0.0% | 0.2% |
| Walk or cycle | 3.3% | 7.0% | 3.8% | 4.9% |
| Households and families | ||||
| One-person households | 23.5% | 27.6% | 32.5% | 27.3% |
| Average people per household | 2.7 | 2.9 | 2.6 | 2.7 |
| Households with no motor vehicle | 3.2% | 7.7% | 6.7% | 6.4% |
| Crowded households (need one or more extra bedrooms) | 8.5% | 15.7% | 10.2% | 11.0% |
| Couples with children (of families) | 31.7% | 30.4% | 26.1% | 30.3% |
| Couples without children | 45.4% | 30.4% | 40.5% | 39.8% |
| One-parent families | 22.9% | 40.5% | 31.5% | 30.1% |
| Homes | ||||
| Separate (stand-alone) houses | 95.3% | 92.1% | 77.4% | 88.9% |
| Average bedrooms | 3.1 | 3 | 2.9 | 3 |
| Heated with a heat pump | 67.2% | 58.5% | 67.4% | 64.3% |
| Damp, always or sometimes | 22.3% | 34.0% | 26.1% | 27.0% |
| Mould over A4 size, always or sometimes | 20.3% | 25.9% | 23.3% | 22.7% |
Rents around Kawerau
New tenancies in Monika Reserve in the April–June 2026 quarter had a median rent of $550 a week (up 0.0% on a year earlier). That is slightly below the national median ($600).
| April–June 2026 | Monika Reserve 43% of titles | Tarawera Park 53% of titles | New Zealand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median weekly rent, new tenancies | $550 | $530 | $600 |
| Middle half of rents | $450–$620 | $480–$550 | $490–$700 |
| Change in median on a year earlier | +0.0% | +1.9% | +0.2% |
| Bonds lodged in the quarter | 15 | 30 | 40,827 |
Schools and hospitals near Kawerau
LINZ maps 5 school sites inside Kawerau, among them Kawerau Putauaki School (Contributing) and Kawerau South School (Contributing).
- Kawerau Putauaki School (Contributing)
- Kawerau South School (Contributing)
- Tarawera High School (Secondary (Year 7-15))
- Te Tari Ako Matua Taiohi (Teen Parent Unit)
- Te Whata Tau o Putauaki (Composite)
- Nearest school: Kawerau Putauaki School (0.5 km)
- Nearest secondary school: Te Whata Tau o Putauaki (1.8 km)
- Nearest public general hospital: Whakatane Hospital (28.8 km)
School enrolment zones in Kawerau: a guide
The largest primary-school zone share of Kawerau's titles is in Kawerau South School's home zone (about 55%).
- Kawerau South School (primary): about 55% of titles
About 45% of Kawerau's titles are outside every mapped home zone.
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 Kawerau
OpenStreetMap maps 10 places of worship inside Kawerau (9 Christian, 1 other or not recorded).
Nearest mapped place of each tradition within 10 km:
- Christian: House of Hope / Whare Tumanako (AOG), 1.3 km away
Listed as facilities for access; not an indicator of who lives here. Sources and limits
Suburbs like Kawerau
The closest match on the measures on this site is Huntly in Waikato District, nearest on cross-lease share, population change, working from home. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Huntly | Waikato District | 3.7% | No data | 35.9 | cross-lease share, population change, working from home |
| Ōtorohanga | Ōtorohanga District | 1.7% | $525 | 36.8 | commuting by public transport, schools, population change |
| Putāruru | South Waikato District | 2.5% | $530 | 43.1 | degrees, commuting by public transport, children |
| Te Aroha | Matamata-Piako District | 3.1% | $560 | 49.2 | commuting by public transport, cross-lease share, population change |
| Paeroa | Hauraki District | 2.7% | $500 | 51.5 | population change, distance to the coast, degrees |
Questions
What is the rent in Kawerau?
New tenancies in Monika Reserve (the rent area for part of Kawerau) 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 $450 to $620.
What schools are in Kawerau?
LINZ maps 5 school sites inside Kawerau, including Kawerau Putauaki School, Kawerau South School and Tarawera High School. The nearest secondary school to its centre is Te Whata Tau o Putauaki (1.8 km in a straight line). Being near a school does not mean being in its zone.