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Unit titles and body corporates in New Zealand

LINZ records 182,305 live unit titles on unit plans, in 15,985 developments: 7.5% of all live titles. 662 developments have 50 or more units. Since 2020, 33,646 new unit titles have been issued.

What a unit title is

A unit title gives you ownership of your unit (an apartment, townhouse or flat) and a share of the common property, which can include the land, driveways, roof and shared walls, depending on the unit plan. Every unit-title development is run by a body corporate made up of all the owners. It sets levies, usually keeps a long-term maintenance plan and makes rules. Before you buy, the seller must give you a pre-contract disclosure statement under the Unit Titles Act 2010; the body corporate's minutes and accounts show what is planned and what it costs.

When developments were first titled

65,743 unit titles (36%) are in developments whose earliest current title was issued between 1994 and 2005. A title date is not a build date and says nothing about any one building; the body corporate records, the LIM and a building report do.

By council

Councils with at least 100 unit titles. Shares are of the council's unit titles.
CouncilUnit titlesDevelopmentsDevelopments with 50+ unitsIn developments first titled 1994–2005Unit titles issued since 2020
Auckland100,9277,22040239%19,188
Carterton District165520%21
Central Otago District458112036%48
Christchurch City15,5111,9923426%2,559
Dunedin City2,644420730%339
Far North District794120041%83
Gisborne District45432233%67
Hamilton City8,3461,1271124%2,104
Hastings District32835130%67
Horowhenua District1941522%4
Hurunui District13713154%18
Invercargill City11814052%13
Kapiti Coast District81267239%174
Lower Hutt City2,438287430%512
Mackenzie District1466120%0
Marlborough District70178134%111
Masterton District1069167%0
Matamata-Piako District36026127%24
Napier City1,09089629%190
Nelson City1,01966228%305
New Plymouth District74997218%166
Palmerston North City977125227%125
Porirua City55387120%156
Queenstown-Lakes District6,6608232633%1,246
Rotorua District1,02174738%152
Ruapehu District13316048%0
Selwyn District31520133%74
Tasman District15111115%42
Taupo District1,29892125%343
Tauranga City4,5503241638%783
Thames-Coromandel District1,04082438%74
Timaru District426137018%10
Upper Hutt City38958137%18
Waikato District44026325%82
Waimakariri District46735234%76
Waipa District64166138%247
Waitaki District10413110%19
Wellington City21,6501,70110341%3,482
Western Bay of Plenty District5943938%217
Whakatane District34231128%8
Whanganui District78914018%73
Whangarei District1,251135421%319

Counted from LINZ NZ Property Titles and Title Estates as at 30 September 2026. A development is the set of unit titles on one unit plan. Suburbs that straddle two councils are counted under the first council LINZ lists. Each suburb's page has its own figures. Leasehold titles · Find suburbs

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