Living in Kelson: rents, schools, census and property titles
The 1,215 live property titles in Kelson, Lower Hutt City are almost all freehold (92%), as recorded by LINZ on 30 September 2026. Cross-lease titles number 95 (7.8%), slightly below the national share of 8.7%.
- Cross-lease titles
- 95
- Share of live titles
- 7.8%
- Live titles in total
- 1,215
- Lower Hutt City share
- 10.5%
- New Zealand share
- 8.7%
- Rank by share in Lower Hutt City
- 15 of 21
- Rank by share in New Zealand
- joint 390 of 644
Kelson at a glance
Higher or lower is not better or worse. Sources and limits
Start here
What the data tells you
Recorded facts
- Kelson is listed under Lower Hutt City.
- 1,215 live titles are recorded here, including 95 cross-lease titles (7.8%).
- 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 7.8% of the recorded title mix. That describes the suburb, not any particular home.
- Unit titles account for 0.2% of recorded titles, so title structure can vary within the suburb.
- Public-transport figures describe how recorded titles sit near mapped stops. They do not describe a service from a particular property.
- 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
- The core title, Census, rent, transport and coast measures used by this page are available.
Title mix in Kelson
| Title type | Live titles | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Freehold | 1,112 | 91.5% |
| Cross lease | 95 | 7.8% |
| Unit title | 3 | 0.2% |
| Leasehold | 4 | 0.3% |
| Other record types | 1 | 0.1% |
| Total | 1,215 | 100% |
Counts are titles, not homes; the register can lag conversions, so check the certificate of title. Sources and limits
How Kelson compares
Nationally, 8.7% of live titles are cross-lease; Kelson is slightly lower than the national share (8.7%).
Across Lower Hutt City as a whole, the share is 10.5%; Kelson is lower than the overall Lower Hutt City share (10.5%).
How cross-leases in Kelson are set up
Fewer leases include a garage (8% of schemes, against 28% nationally).
Fewer schemes refer to more than one flats plan (14%, against 36% nationally), usually because a plan was redrawn.
Carports appear in fewer leases (8% of schemes, against 13% nationally).
| Scheme structure | Kelson | Lower Hutt City | New Zealand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cross-lease schemes (shared sections) | 49 | 2,185 | 87,651 |
| Two-flat schemes | 100.0% | 82.9% | 76.2% |
| Three-flat schemes | 0.0% | 9.4% | 12.2% |
| Four or more flats | 0.0% | 7.6% | 11.4% |
| Typical section size (from the titles, not a survey) | 881 m² | 791 m² | 908 m² |
| Typical land per flat | 440 m² | 364 m² | 408 m² |
| Schemes with a garage written into a lease | 8.2% | 15.7% | 28.4% |
| Schemes with a carport in a lease | 8.2% | 7.6% | 13.3% |
| Schemes with a separate exclusive-use area | 0.0% | 3.8% | 4.5% |
| Schemes referring to more than one flats plan (usually redrawn; not by itself a problem) | 14.3% | 29.2% | 35.6% |
| Median year of earliest current title | 1984 | 1989 | 1988 |
| Two-flat schemes on 700 m² or more | 37 | 1,124 | 54,978 |
New titles in Kelson since 2020
103 of Kelson's current titles (8%) were first issued since 2020, below Lower Hutt City's suburbs with new-title figures taken together (10%) and well below New Zealand (12%).
| Title type | Since 2020 | Since 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Freehold | 102 | 60 |
| Unit title | 0 | 0 |
| Cross-lease | 0 | 0 |
| Leasehold | 1 | 1 |
| 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 Kelson
The typical building in Kelson stands on ground sloping 7.3° (read on an 8 m grid, so short steep banks may be understated), in the steepest quarter of 21 in Lower Hutt City.
About 12% of its 1,479 measured buildings stand on ground of 15° or more.
The land rises from about 10 m to 342 m, and 61% of all of it, including reserves and gullies, is 15° or steeper.
Little of the sloping land faces north: 13%, 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 Kelson
Kelson is inland: the typical title is 7.3 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 Kelson: 2023 Census
About 100% of Kelson's titles are in the census area Kelson (a Stats NZ statistical area), so these figures describe that area, not Kelson exactly.
Fewer households have no car in Kelson than across Lower Hutt City: 1.5% against 8.0%.
Fewer workers walk or cycle to work in Kelson than across Lower Hutt City: 1.4% against 4.5%.
Fewer people live alone in Kelson than across Lower Hutt City: 15.7% against 23.1%.
| Measure | Kelson | Lower Hutt City whole council |
|---|---|---|
| Usual residents | 2,898 | 107,562 |
| Change since 2018 | +2.2% | +2.9% |
| Change since 2013 | +7.5% | +9.5% |
| Median age | 36.8 | 37.5 |
| Households | 1,044 | 39,027 |
| Own or part-own their home (including family trusts) | 83.9% | 66.8% |
| Not owned and not in a family trust (mostly renting) | 16.1% | 33.2% |
| Median household income | $138,000 | $110,100 |
| Median weekly rent, renting households | $608 | $450 |
| Dwellings unoccupied on census night | 4.4% | 5.8% |
| Ages | ||
| Under 15 | 22.2% | 19.1% |
| 15 to 29 | 13.9% | 18.5% |
| 30 to 64 | 52.4% | 47.7% |
| 65 and over | 11.7% | 14.7% |
| Where people came from | ||
| Born overseas | 29.7% | 27.8% |
| Of those born overseas, arrived in the last 5 years | 11.3% | 18.4% |
| Lived elsewhere in New Zealand 5 years ago (of all residents, including children born since) | 31.5% | 38.6% |
| Lived overseas 5 years ago (of all residents) | 2.9% | 3.6% |
| Moved here in the last year (of all residents) | 15.0% | 16.8% |
| Work and study (people 15 and over) | ||
| Bachelor degree or higher | 37.3% | 29.2% |
| Employed full-time | 64.5% | 55.4% |
| Unemployed (share of everyone 15 and over, not the unemployment rate) | 1.6% | 3.1% |
| Managers and professionals (of those employed) | 53.3% | 47.6% |
| Median personal income | $62,000 | $47,800 |
| Getting to work (of those employed) | ||
| Work from home | 20.1% | 17.5% |
| Car, truck or van | 64.2% | 60.8% |
| Bus, train or ferry | 12.8% | 16.3% |
| Walk or cycle | 1.4% | 4.5% |
| Households and families | ||
| One-person households | 15.7% | 23.1% |
| Average people per household | 2.8 | 2.7 |
| Households with no motor vehicle | 1.5% | 8.0% |
| Crowded households (need one or more extra bedrooms) | 2.0% | 7.1% |
| Couples with children (of families) | 53.4% | 44.7% |
| Couples without children | 36.7% | 37.5% |
| One-parent families | 10.0% | 17.8% |
| Homes | ||
| Separate (stand-alone) houses | 90.5% | 76.3% |
| Average bedrooms | 3.3 | 3 |
| Heated with a heat pump | 68.3% | 64.4% |
| Damp, always or sometimes | 22.7% | 21.4% |
| Mould over A4 size, always or sometimes | 15.6% | 15.0% |
Rents around Kelson
New tenancies in Kelson in the April–June 2026 quarter had a median rent of $660 a week (up 1.5% on a year earlier). That is slightly above the typical suburb in Lower Hutt City ($600), and slightly above the national median ($600); joint 2nd highest of 16 in Lower Hutt City.
| April–June 2026 | Kelson | New Zealand |
|---|---|---|
| Median weekly rent, new tenancies | $660 | $600 |
| Middle half of rents | $620–$720 | $490–$700 |
| Change in median on a year earlier | +1.5% | +0.2% |
| Bonds lodged in the quarter | 15 | 40,827 |
Schools and hospitals near Kelson
One school site lies inside Kelson: Kelson School (Contributing).
- Kelson School (Contributing)
- Nearest school: Kelson School (1.0 km)
- Nearest secondary school: Taita College (2.1 km)
- Nearest public general hospital: Hutt Hospital (3.7 km)
School enrolment zones in Kelson: a guide
Three secondary schools have a home zone covering most of Kelson's titles: Hutt International Boys School, Naenae College and St Oran's College.
- Kelson School (primary, Years 1–6): all or nearly all titles
- Belmont School (Lower Hutt) (primary, Years 1–6): about 20% of titles
- Naenae Intermediate (intermediate, Years 7–8): all or nearly all titles
- Hutt International Boys School (secondary): all or nearly all titles
- Naenae College (secondary): all or nearly all titles
- St Oran's 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
Public transport in Kelson
89% of Kelson's titles are within 400 m of a stop with a scheduled weekday service, close to Lower Hutt City as a whole (93%).
Fewer than 1% are within 400 m of a stop with 60 or more departures that day.
The typical title is 150 m in a straight line from its nearest stop.
Timetable of Wednesday 30 September 2026, Metlink (Greater Wellington Regional Council). Sources and limits
Places of worship near Kelson
OpenStreetMap maps 1 place of worship inside Kelson (1 Christian).
Nearest mapped place of each tradition within 10 km:
- Christian: Discovery Elim Christian Centre, under 1 km away
- Hindu: BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, 1.8 km away
- Buddhist: Bodhinyanarama Buddhist Monastery, 4.4 km away
- Muslim: Haleema Kindergarten - Haleema Kindergarten Trust, 1.5 km away
- Sikh: Wellington Gurudwara Sahib, 2.8 km away
Listed as facilities for access; not an indicator of who lives here. Sources and limits
Other suburbs in Lower Hutt City with many cross-leases
- Stokes Valley: 492 cross-lease titles (12.5%)
- Waterloo: 426 cross-lease titles (21.3%)
- Wainuiomata: 406 cross-lease titles (5.3%)
- Waiwhetū: 362 cross-lease titles (20.3%)
- Hutt Central: 343 cross-lease titles (15.1%)
- Woburn: 334 cross-lease titles (23.5%)
- Naenae: 333 cross-lease titles (9.6%)
- Avalon: 300 cross-lease titles (13.2%)
All suburbs in Lower Hutt City
Suburbs like Kelson
The closest match on the measures on this site is Normandale in Lower Hutt City, nearest on schools, near a frequent stop, unit-title 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Normandale | Lower Hutt City | 6.3% | $570 | 39.6 | schools, near a frequent stop, unit-title share |
| Pinehaven | Upper Hutt City | 4.8% | $590 | 40.2 | schools, near a frequent stop, degrees |
| Maungaraki | Lower Hutt City | 13.1% | $600 | 38.4 | schools, near a frequent stop, degrees |
| Belmont, Lower Hutt City | Lower Hutt City | 5.8% | No data | 40.3 | born overseas, degrees, near a frequent stop |
| Grenada Village | Wellington City | 5.4% | No data | 37.1 | commuting by public transport, unit-title share, commuting on foot or by bike |
Questions
What is the rent in Kelson?
New tenancies in the Kelson rent area had a median rent of $660 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 $620 to $720.
What schools are in Kelson?
LINZ maps 1 school site inside Kelson: Kelson School. The nearest secondary school to its centre is Taita College (2.1 km in a straight line). Secondary-school home zones covering most of its titles are Hutt International Boys School, Naenae College and St Oran's College; check the school's own zone map for any address.