Living in Bluff Hill: rents, schools, census and property titles
The 1,257 live property titles in Bluff Hill, Napier City are almost all freehold (93%), as recorded by LINZ on 30 September 2026. Cross-lease titles number 33 (2.6%), well below the national share of 8.7%.
- Cross-lease titles
- 33
- Share of live titles
- 2.6%
- Live titles in total
- 1,257
- Napier City share
- 7.0%
- New Zealand share
- 8.7%
- Rank by share in Napier City
- 12 of 12
- Rank by share in New Zealand
- joint 594 of 644
Bluff Hill at a glance
Where Bluff Hill differs most from suburbs across New Zealand: median slope under buildings (higher than 96% of NZ suburbs); cross-lease share of titles (lower than 92% of NZ suburbs); median age (higher than 91% of NZ suburbs).
Higher or lower is not better or worse. Sources and limits
Start here
What the data tells you
Recorded facts
- Bluff Hill is listed under Napier City.
- 1,257 live titles are recorded here, including 33 cross-lease titles (2.6%).
- 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 2.6% of the recorded title mix. That describes the suburb, not any particular home.
- Unit titles account for 2.0% 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 Bluff Hill
| Title type | Live titles | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Freehold | 1,167 | 92.8% |
| Cross lease | 33 | 2.6% |
| Unit title | 25 | 2.0% |
| Leasehold | 27 | 2.1% |
| Other record types | 5 | 0.4% |
| Total | 1,257 | 100% |
Counts are titles, not homes; the register can lag conversions, so check the certificate of title. Sources and limits
How Bluff Hill compares
Nationally, 8.7% of live titles are cross-lease; Bluff Hill is well below the national share (8.7%).
Across Napier City as a whole, the share is 7.0%; Bluff Hill is well below the overall Napier City share (7.0%).
Its cross-lease share is the lowest of 12 in Napier City (among suburbs with an indexed page on this site).
How cross-leases in Bluff Hill are set up
Fewer leases include a garage (7% of schemes, against 28% nationally).
Separate exclusive-use areas are more common (14% of schemes, against 5% nationally).
More schemes have four or more flats on one section (29%, against 11% nationally), up to 6.
| Scheme structure | Bluff Hill | Napier City | New Zealand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cross-lease schemes (shared sections) | 14 | 899 | 87,651 |
| Two-flat schemes | 50.0% | 69.3% | 76.2% |
| Three-flat schemes | 14.3% | 18.9% | 12.2% |
| Four or more flats | 28.6% | 11.3% | 11.4% |
| Typical section size (from the titles, not a survey) | 1,080 m² | 888 m² | 908 m² |
| Typical land per flat | 353 m² | 402 m² | 408 m² |
| Schemes with a garage written into a lease | 7.1% | 34.0% | 28.4% |
| Schemes with a carport in a lease | 7.1% | 5.3% | 13.3% |
| Schemes with a separate exclusive-use area | 14.3% | 6.1% | 4.5% |
| Schemes referring to more than one flats plan (usually redrawn; not by itself a problem) | 28.6% | 37.4% | 35.6% |
| Median year of earliest current title | 1992 | 1994 | 1988 |
| Two-flat schemes on 700 m² or more | 6 | 526 | 54,978 |
Unit titles and leasehold in Bluff Hill
Unit titles are 2% of Bluff Hill's titles, well below Napier City (4%) and well below New Zealand (8%). They belong to 5 developments, each run by a body corporate; half have 4 units or fewer.
27 titles (2.1%) are leasehold.
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 | 25 |
| Term mentions renewal (including perpetually renewable) | 0 |
| Term not stated or not readable | 2 |
New titles in Bluff Hill since 2020
35 of Bluff Hill's current titles (3%) were first issued since 2020, well below Napier City's suburbs with new-title figures taken together (7%) and well below New Zealand (12%).
| Title type | Since 2020 | Since 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Freehold | 34 | 21 |
| Unit title | 0 | 0 |
| Cross-lease | 1 | 1 |
| 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 Bluff Hill
The typical building in Bluff Hill stands on ground sloping 9.9° (read on an 8 m grid, so short steep banks may be understated), joint steepest of 12 in Napier City.
About 29% of its 1,495 measured buildings stand on ground of 15° or more.
Slope is not a measure of ground stability. Sources and limits
Distance to the coast from Bluff Hill
7% of Bluff Hill's titles are within 200 m of the sea or harbour edge, 50% within 500 m and 100% within 1 km. The typical title is 500 m 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 Bluff Hill: 2023 Census
About 95% of Bluff Hill's titles are in the census area Bluff Hill (a Stats NZ statistical area), so these figures describe that area, not Bluff Hill exactly.
More workers walk or cycle to work in Bluff Hill than across Napier City: 9.9% against 5.1%.
More adults hold a degree in Bluff Hill than across Napier City: 39.5% against 20.6%.
Fewer households have no car in Bluff Hill than across Napier City: 3.4% against 6.0%.
| Measure | Bluff Hill | Napier City whole council |
|---|---|---|
| Usual residents | 2,631 | 64,695 |
| Change since 2018 | +0.8% | +3.9% |
| Change since 2013 | +0.8% | +13.0% |
| Median age | 49.4 | 42 |
| Households | 1,116 | 24,591 |
| Own or part-own their home (including family trusts) | 72.6% | 69.3% |
| Not owned and not in a family trust (mostly renting) | 27.2% | 30.7% |
| Median household income | $100,100 | $83,400 |
| Median weekly rent, renting households | $440 | $400 |
| Dwellings unoccupied on census night | 10.6% | 7.0% |
| Ages | ||
| Under 15 | 13.6% | 18.4% |
| 15 to 29 | 15.2% | 17.2% |
| 30 to 64 | 49.8% | 43.3% |
| 65 and over | 21.3% | 21.1% |
| Where people came from | ||
| Born overseas | 26.6% | 18.1% |
| Of those born overseas, arrived in the last 5 years | 25.3% | 22.6% |
| Lived elsewhere in New Zealand 5 years ago (of all residents, including children born since) | 42.6% | 42.9% |
| Lived overseas 5 years ago (of all residents) | 5.6% | 3.4% |
| Moved here in the last year (of all residents) | 18.8% | 17.2% |
| Work and study (people 15 and over) | ||
| Bachelor degree or higher | 39.5% | 20.6% |
| Employed full-time | 50.5% | 48.6% |
| Unemployed (share of everyone 15 and over, not the unemployment rate) | 3.0% | 2.8% |
| Managers and professionals (of those employed) | 55.3% | 40.5% |
| Median personal income | $46,500 | $39,200 |
| Getting to work (of those employed) | ||
| Work from home | 19.3% | 12.8% |
| Car, truck or van | 68.2% | 80.3% |
| Bus, train or ferry | 1.0% | 0.9% |
| Walk or cycle | 9.9% | 5.1% |
| Households and families | ||
| One-person households | 24.4% | 26.9% |
| Average people per household | 2.3 | 2.5 |
| Households with no motor vehicle | 3.4% | 6.0% |
| Crowded households (need one or more extra bedrooms) | 3.2% | 6.1% |
| Couples with children (of families) | 31.5% | 36.3% |
| Couples without children | 58.6% | 44.6% |
| One-parent families | 9.6% | 19.1% |
| Homes | ||
| Separate (stand-alone) houses | 78.9% | 79.1% |
| Average bedrooms | 3 | 2.9 |
| Heated with a heat pump | 70.7% | 76.0% |
| Damp, always or sometimes | 16.9% | 15.9% |
| Mould over A4 size, always or sometimes | 10.2% | 11.3% |
Rents around Bluff Hill
New tenancies in Bluff Hill in the April–June 2026 quarter had a median rent of $600 a week (up 1.7% on a year earlier). That is close to the typical suburb in Napier City ($600), and close to the national median ($600).
| April–June 2026 | Bluff Hill | New Zealand |
|---|---|---|
| Median weekly rent, new tenancies | $600 | $600 |
| Middle half of rents | $470–$683 | $490–$700 |
| Change in median on a year earlier | +1.7% | +0.2% |
| Bonds lodged in the quarter | 21 | 40,827 |
Schools and hospitals near Bluff Hill
LINZ maps 2 school sites inside Bluff Hill, among them Napier Girls' High School (Secondary (Year 9-15)) and Sacred Heart College (Napier) (Secondary (Year 9-15)).
- Napier Girls' High School (Secondary (Year 9-15))
- Sacred Heart College (Napier) (Secondary (Year 9-15))
- Nearest school: Napier Girls' High School (0.2 km)
- Nearest secondary school: Napier Girls' High School (0.2 km)
- Nearest public general hospital: Hawke's Bay Hospital (17.8 km)
School enrolment zones in Bluff Hill: a guide
Seven secondary schools have a home zone covering most of Bluff Hill's titles, among them Napier Girls' High School, Iona College and Lindisfarne College.
- Napier Central School (primary, Years 1–6): all or nearly all titles
- Napier Intermediate (intermediate, Years 7–8): all or nearly all titles
- Hastings Christian School (composite): all or nearly all titles
- Taikura Rudolf Steiner School (composite): all or nearly all titles
- Napier Girls' High School (secondary): all or nearly all titles
- Iona College (secondary): all or nearly all titles
- Lindisfarne College (secondary): all or nearly all titles
- Napier Boys' High School (secondary): all or nearly all titles
- St John's College (Hastings) (secondary): all or nearly all titles
- St Joseph's Maori Girls' College (secondary): all or nearly all titles
- Woodford House (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 Bluff Hill
No place of worship is mapped in OpenStreetMap inside Bluff Hill's boundary.
Nearest mapped place of each tradition within 10 km:
- Christian: Waiapu Cathedral of Saint John the Evangelist,, under 1 km away
- Buddhist: Phuntsok Choeling Buddhist Centre, under 1 km away
Listed as facilities for access; not an indicator of who lives here. Sources and limits
Other suburbs in Napier City with many cross-leases
- Taradale: 553 cross-lease titles (9.7%)
- Marewa: 348 cross-lease titles (14.6%)
- Greenmeadows: 282 cross-lease titles (10.5%)
- Onekawa: 222 cross-lease titles (7.4%)
- Napier South: 156 cross-lease titles (5.1%)
- Tamatea: 138 cross-lease titles (6.1%)
- Pirimai: 117 cross-lease titles (7.3%)
- Westshore: 75 cross-lease titles (10.6%)
Suburbs like Bluff Hill
The closest match on the measures on this site is Hospital Hill in Napier City, nearest on rent, slope, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hospital Hill | Napier City | 3.3% | $600 | 47.8 | rent, slope, unit-title share |
| Lyttelton | Christchurch City | 9.4% | $600 | 46.3 | rent, distance to the coast, damp homes |
| Red Beach | Auckland | 15.9% | No data | 47.1 | schools, distance to the coast, born overseas |
| Mount Pleasant, Christchurch City | Christchurch City | 9.0% | $700 | 49.4 | median age, distance to the coast, new titles |
| Atawhai | Nelson City | 2.5% | $610 | 51.1 | distance to the coast, cross-lease share, working from home |
Questions
What is the rent in Bluff Hill?
New tenancies in the Bluff Hill rent area had a median rent of $600 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 $470 to $683.
What schools are in Bluff Hill?
LINZ maps 2 school sites inside Bluff Hill: Napier Girls' High School and Sacred Heart College (Napier). The nearest secondary school to its centre is Napier Girls' High School (0.2 km in a straight line). Secondary-school home zones covering most of its titles include Napier Girls' High School, Iona College and Lindisfarne College; check the school's own zone map for any address.