Living in Spotswood, New Plymouth District: rents, schools, census and property titles
The 1,167 live property titles in Spotswood, New Plymouth District are almost all freehold (88%), as recorded by LINZ on 30 September 2026. Cross-lease titles number 127 (10.9%), above the national share of 8.7%.
Spotswood, New Plymouth District cross-lease titles
- Cross-lease titles
- 127
- Share of live titles
- 10.9%
- Live titles in total
- 1,167
- New Plymouth District share
- 6.6%
- New Zealand share
- 8.7%
- Rank by share in New Plymouth District
- joint 8 of 18
- Rank by share in New Zealand
- joint 305 of 644
Spotswood at a glance
Where Spotswood differs most from suburbs across New Zealand: homes with a heat pump (lower than 90% of NZ suburbs).
Higher or lower is not better or worse. Sources and limits
Start here
What the data tells you
Recorded facts
- Spotswood is listed under New Plymouth District.
- 1,167 live titles are recorded here, including 127 cross-lease titles (10.9%).
- 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 10.9% of the recorded title mix. That describes the suburb, not any particular home.
- Unit titles account for 0.5% 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 Spotswood
| Title type | Live titles | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Freehold | 1,026 | 87.9% |
| Cross lease | 127 | 10.9% |
| Unit title | 6 | 0.5% |
| Leasehold | 7 | 0.6% |
| Other record types | 1 | 0.1% |
| Total | 1,167 | 100% |
Counts are titles, not homes; the register can lag conversions, so check the certificate of title. Sources and limits
How Spotswood compares
Nationally, 8.7% of live titles are cross-lease; Spotswood is higher than the national share (8.7%).
Across New Plymouth District as a whole, the share is 6.6%; Spotswood is about 1.7 times the overall New Plymouth District share (6.6%).
How cross-leases in Spotswood are set up
Carports appear in more leases (24% of schemes, against 13% nationally).
Fewer schemes refer to more than one flats plan (20%, against 36% nationally), usually because a plan was redrawn.
Separate exclusive-use areas are more common (8% of schemes, against 5% nationally).
| Scheme structure | Spotswood | New Plymouth District | New Zealand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cross-lease schemes (shared sections) | 51 | 1,094 | 87,651 |
| Two-flat schemes | 76.5% | 66.6% | 76.2% |
| Three-flat schemes | 7.8% | 17.6% | 12.2% |
| Four or more flats | 15.7% | 15.8% | 11.4% |
| Typical section size (from the titles, not a survey) | 776 m² | 809 m² | 908 m² |
| Typical land per flat | 312 m² | 337 m² | 408 m² |
| Schemes with a garage written into a lease | 37.3% | 38.9% | 28.4% |
| Schemes with a carport in a lease | 23.5% | 15.5% | 13.3% |
| Schemes with a separate exclusive-use area | 7.8% | 7.8% | 4.5% |
| Schemes referring to more than one flats plan (usually redrawn; not by itself a problem) | 19.6% | 27.6% | 35.6% |
| Median year of earliest current title | 1984 | 1990 | 1988 |
| Two-flat schemes on 700 m² or more | 19 | 430 | 54,978 |
New titles in Spotswood since 2020
72 of Spotswood's current titles (6%) were first issued since 2020, well below New Plymouth District's suburbs with new-title figures taken together (9%) and well below New Zealand (12%).
| Title type | Since 2020 | Since 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Freehold | 65 | 38 |
| Unit title | 0 | 0 |
| Cross-lease | 7 | 7 |
| 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 Spotswood
The typical building in Spotswood stands on ground sloping 3.2° (read on an 8 m grid, so short steep banks may be understated).
The land rises from about 0 m to 154 m, and 19% 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 Spotswood
1% of Spotswood's titles are within 200 m of the sea or harbour edge, 14% within 500 m and 56% within 1 km. The typical title is 950 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 Spotswood: 2023 Census
About 99% of Spotswood's titles are in the census area Spotswood (a Stats NZ statistical area), so these figures describe that area, not Spotswood exactly.
Fewer workers work from home in Spotswood than across New Plymouth District: 12.2% against 16.8%.
Fewer adults hold a degree in Spotswood than across New Plymouth District: 16.2% against 20.7%.
Fewer residents are 65 or over in Spotswood than across New Plymouth District: 16.1% against 19.6%.
| Measure | Spotswood | New Plymouth District whole council |
|---|---|---|
| Usual residents | 3,864 | 87,000 |
| Change since 2018 | +6.4% | +7.8% |
| Change since 2013 | +12.0% | +17.3% |
| Median age | 36.9 | 40.7 |
| Households | 1,458 | 33,207 |
| Own or part-own their home (including family trusts) | 65.4% | 72.4% |
| Not owned and not in a family trust (mostly renting) | 34.6% | 27.6% |
| Median household income | $76,200 | $86,400 |
| Median weekly rent, renting households | $388 | $380 |
| Dwellings unoccupied on census night | 7.9% | 6.9% |
| Ages | ||
| Under 15 | 19.3% | 19.8% |
| 15 to 29 | 20.0% | 16.3% |
| 30 to 64 | 44.8% | 44.3% |
| 65 and over | 16.1% | 19.6% |
| Where people came from | ||
| Born overseas | 16.0% | 17.1% |
| Of those born overseas, arrived in the last 5 years | 19.4% | 21.9% |
| Lived elsewhere in New Zealand 5 years ago (of all residents, including children born since) | 40.8% | 42.2% |
| Lived overseas 5 years ago (of all residents) | 3.5% | 3.4% |
| Moved here in the last year (of all residents) | 16.2% | 16.3% |
| Work and study (people 15 and over) | ||
| Bachelor degree or higher | 16.2% | 20.7% |
| Employed full-time | 49.2% | 48.4% |
| Unemployed (share of everyone 15 and over, not the unemployment rate) | 3.8% | 2.5% |
| Managers and professionals (of those employed) | 34.6% | 43.0% |
| Median personal income | $36,500 | $39,200 |
| Getting to work (of those employed) | ||
| Work from home | 12.2% | 16.8% |
| Car, truck or van | 81.0% | 75.6% |
| Bus, train or ferry | 1.2% | 0.6% |
| Walk or cycle | 4.2% | 5.5% |
| Households and families | ||
| One-person households | 26.2% | 24.7% |
| Average people per household | 2.5 | 2.5 |
| Households with no motor vehicle | 6.8% | 5.3% |
| Crowded households (need one or more extra bedrooms) | 5.1% | 4.2% |
| Couples with children (of families) | 36.7% | 39.5% |
| Couples without children | 40.1% | 43.9% |
| One-parent families | 22.9% | 16.5% |
| Homes | ||
| Separate (stand-alone) houses | 82.1% | 84.3% |
| Average bedrooms | 2.9 | 3.1 |
| Heated with a heat pump | 54.4% | 53.2% |
| Damp, always or sometimes | 20.8% | 16.4% |
| Mould over A4 size, always or sometimes | 18.5% | 14.0% |
Rents around Spotswood
New tenancies in Spotswood in the April–June 2026 quarter had a median rent of $580 a week (up 1.8% on a year earlier). That is close to the typical suburb in New Plymouth District ($553), and close to the national median ($600).
| April–June 2026 | Spotswood | New Zealand |
|---|---|---|
| Median weekly rent, new tenancies | $580 | $600 |
| Middle half of rents | $550–$620 | $490–$700 |
| Change in median on a year earlier | +1.8% | +0.2% |
| Bonds lodged in the quarter | 27 | 40,827 |
Schools and hospitals near Spotswood
LINZ maps 3 school sites inside Spotswood, among them Spotswood College (Secondary (Year 9-15)) and Spotswood Primary School (Contributing).
- Spotswood College (Secondary (Year 9-15))
- Spotswood Primary School (Contributing)
- Te Pi'ipi'inga Kakano Mai I Rangiatea (Composite)
- Nearest school: Spotswood Primary School (0.8 km)
- Nearest secondary school: Te Pi'ipi'inga Kakano Mai I Rangiatea (0.8 km)
- Nearest public general hospital: Taranaki Base Hospital (2.4 km)
School enrolment zones in Spotswood: a guide
The largest primary-school zone share of Spotswood's titles is in Moturoa School's home zone (about 65%).
- Moturoa School (primary, Years 1–6): about 65% of titles
About 35% of Spotswood'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 Spotswood
OpenStreetMap maps 1 place of worship inside Spotswood (1 Christian).
Nearest mapped place of each tradition within 10 km:
- Christian: West Baptist Church, under 1 km away
Listed as facilities for access; not an indicator of who lives here. Sources and limits
Other suburbs in New Plymouth District with many cross-leases
- Westown: 386 cross-lease titles (14.5%)
- New Plymouth: 333 cross-lease titles (10.9%)
- Strandon: 231 cross-lease titles (18.5%)
- Waitara: 195 cross-lease titles (5.5%)
- Fitzroy: 163 cross-lease titles (17.1%)
- Moturoa: 157 cross-lease titles (15.0%)
- Lower Vogeltown: 142 cross-lease titles (22.6%)
All suburbs in New Plymouth District
Suburbs like Spotswood
The closest match on the measures on this site is Lynmouth in New Plymouth District, nearest on rent, distance to the coast, damp homes. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lynmouth | New Plymouth District | 13.5% | $580 | 35.3 | rent, distance to the coast, damp homes |
| Westown | New Plymouth District | 14.5% | $550 | 38 | population change, unit-title share, working from home |
| Blagdon | New Plymouth District | 9.0% | $580 | 35.3 | rent, distance to the coast, damp homes |
| Frankleigh Park | New Plymouth District | 5.0% | No data | 38.8 | heat pumps, unit-title share, older residents |
| Bell Block | New Plymouth District | 4.0% | No data | 37.8 | population change, distance to the coast, recent movers within NZ |
Questions
What is the rent in Spotswood, New Plymouth District?
New tenancies in the Spotswood rent area had a median rent of $580 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 $550 to $620.
What schools are in Spotswood, New Plymouth District?
LINZ maps 3 school sites inside Spotswood: Spotswood College, Spotswood Primary School and Te Pi'ipi'inga Kakano Mai I Rangiatea. The nearest secondary school to its centre is Te Pi'ipi'inga Kakano Mai I Rangiatea (0.8 km in a straight line). Being near a school does not mean being in its zone.