Suburbs in Marlborough District: rents, census and property titles
LINZ recorded 31,125 live titles in Marlborough District on 30 September 2026: 89% freehold, then cross-lease at 7.4%. Its 2,308 cross-lease titles (7.4%) are slightly below the national share of 8.7% (in the highest quarter of 54 in New Zealand, among councils with at least 100 cross-lease titles).
Marlborough District cross-lease titles
- Cross-lease titles
- 2,308
- Share of live titles
- 7.4%
- Live titles in total
- 31,125
- New Zealand share
- 8.7%
- Suburbs with 30+ cross-lease titles
- 10
Title mix in Marlborough District
| Title type | Live titles | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Freehold | 27,558 | 88.5% |
| Cross lease | 2,308 | 7.4% |
| Unit title | 701 | 2.3% |
| Leasehold | 284 | 0.9% |
| Other record types | 274 | 0.9% |
| Total | 31,125 | 100% |
Counts are titles, not homes. Sources and limits
How cross-leases in Marlborough District are set up
Separate exclusive-use areas are less common (2% of schemes, against 5% nationally).
More leases include a garage (35% of schemes, against 28% nationally).
| Scheme structure | Marlborough District | New Zealand |
|---|---|---|
| Cross-lease schemes (shared sections) | 989 | 87,651 |
| Two-flat schemes | 77.5% | 76.2% |
| Three-flat schemes | 12.2% | 12.2% |
| Four or more flats | 10.2% | 11.4% |
| Typical section size (from the titles, not a survey) | 870 m² | 908 m² |
| Typical land per flat | 394 m² | 408 m² |
| Schemes with a garage written into a lease | 35.0% | 28.4% |
| Schemes with a carport in a lease | 11.2% | 13.3% |
| Schemes with a separate exclusive-use area | 2.4% | 4.5% |
| Schemes referring to more than one flats plan (usually redrawn; not by itself a problem) | 31.5% | 35.6% |
| Median year of earliest current title | 1989 | 1988 |
| Two-flat schemes on 700 m² or more | 593 | 54,978 |
Among suburbs with at least 300 live and 30 cross-lease titles, the highest cross-lease shares in Marlborough District are in Redwoodtown (19.8%), Blenheim (18.2%), Witherlea (14.5%), Picton (13.0%), Mayfield (11.8%).
Suburbs in Marlborough District by cross-lease share
| Suburb | Cross-lease titles | Live titles | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Redwoodtown | 499 | 2,525 | 19.8% |
| Blenheim | 664 | 3,653 | 18.2% |
| Witherlea | 400 | 2,757 | 14.5% |
| Picton | 272 | 2,093 | 13.0% |
| Mayfield | 113 | 955 | 11.8% |
| Islington | 32 | 324 | 9.9% |
| Riversdale | 49 | 612 | 8.0% |
| Springlands | 153 | 2,336 | 6.5% |
| Waikawa | 47 | 979 | 4.8% |
| Renwick | 33 | 1,336 | 2.5% |
St. Arnaud straddles another council; LINZ lists Marlborough District first, so its titles are counted here.
Marlborough District at a glance
8% of titles in Marlborough District's suburbs were first issued since 2020, well below New Zealand (12%). 22% of titles are within 1 km of the sea or harbour edge. The wider district is a little drier than the national average for homes (820 mm of rain a year, against 1,000 mm) and cooler than it (11.1°C, against 13.5°C), on NASA POWER's ~50 km grid.
| Suburb | Cross-lease share of titles | Median weekly rent, new tenancies | Titles first issued since 2020 | Median age | Homes with a heat pump | Median slope under buildings | Typical distance to the coast |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Redwoodtown | 19.8% | $535 | 8.7% | 41.8 | 76.6% | 0.7° | 8.2 km |
| Blenheim | 18.2% | $565 | 6.9% | 43.5 | 77.4% | 0.7° | 7.8 km |
| Witherlea | 14.5% | $595 | 6.3% | 46.8 | 85.1% | 1° | 8.7 km |
| Picton | 13.0% | $550 | 4.3% | 54.4 | 64.9% | 4.3° | 0.7 km |
| Mayfield | 11.8% | No data | 6.5% | 39.3 | 68.2% | 0.7° | 7.2 km |
| Islington | 9.9% | $520 | 5.9% | 39.7 | 61.9% | 0.7° | 6.8 km |
| Riversdale | 8.0% | $520 | 3.6% | 39.7 | 61.9% | 0.7° | 6.3 km |
| Springlands | 6.5% | No data | 11.9% | 48.8 | 78.8% | 0.7° | 8.7 km |
| Waikawa | 4.8% | No data | 3.8% | 58.8 | 77.0% | 3.1° | 0.5 km |
| Renwick | 2.5% | $630 | 6.5% | 40.9 | 60.8% | 0.9° | 17.7 km |
New titles by year in Marlborough District
2025 brought 250 titles still live, fewer than the 5-year average before it (318), against a peak of 445 in 2022.
| Year issued | All new titles | Freehold | Unit titles | Cross-lease | Leasehold | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 222 | 184 | 25 | 0 | 7 | 6 |
| 2021 | 436 | 353 | 63 | 0 | 5 | 15 |
| 2022 | 445 | 423 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 9 |
| 2023 | 267 | 260 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| 2024 | 218 | 192 | 15 | 7 | 3 | 1 |
| 2025 | 250 | 234 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 5 |
| 2026 (Jan–Sep) | 268 | 256 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 2 |
Cross-lease titles in Marlborough District, by suburb
Unit titles in Marlborough District, by suburb
Marlborough District at the 2023 Census
| Measure | Marlborough District 2023 Census |
|---|---|
| Usual residents | 49,431 |
| Change since 2018 | +4.4% |
| Change since 2013 | +13.9% |
| Median age | 46.1 |
| Households | 19,587 |
| Own or part-own their home (including family trusts) | 74.0% |
| Not owned and not in a family trust (mostly renting) | 26.0% |
| Median household income | $81,700 |
| Median weekly rent, renting households | $384 |
| Dwellings unoccupied on census night | 17.9% |
| Ages | |
| Under 15 | 16.7% |
| 15 to 29 | 14.4% |
| 30 to 64 | 45.0% |
| 65 and over | 23.9% |
| Where people came from | |
| Born overseas | 19.7% |
| Of those born overseas, arrived in the last 5 years | 24.6% |
| Lived elsewhere in New Zealand 5 years ago (of all residents, including children born since) | 44.3% |
| Lived overseas 5 years ago (of all residents) | 3.6% |
| Moved here in the last year (of all residents) | 16.6% |
| Work and study (people 15 and over) | |
| Bachelor degree or higher | 18.5% |
| Employed full-time | 49.6% |
| Unemployed (share of everyone 15 and over, not the unemployment rate) | 1.7% |
| Managers and professionals (of those employed) | 39.0% |
| Median personal income | $39,400 |
| Getting to work (of those employed) | |
| Work from home | 16.7% |
| Car, truck or van | 74.1% |
| Bus, train or ferry | 0.2% |
| Walk or cycle | 8.0% |
| Households and families | |
| One-person households | 25.6% |
| Average people per household | 2.4 |
| Households with no motor vehicle | 4.4% |
| Crowded households (need one or more extra bedrooms) | 3.5% |
| Couples with children (of families) | 34.2% |
| Couples without children | 53.2% |
| One-parent families | 12.6% |
| Homes | |
| Separate (stand-alone) houses | 84.9% |
| Average bedrooms | 3.1 |
| Heated with a heat pump | 66.7% |
| Damp, always or sometimes | 11.0% |
| Mould over A4 size, always or sometimes | 7.1% |