Housing availability and affordability
Housing availability and affordability
More people are moving to our amazing district, and why wouldn’t they? Our district has so much to offer! The growth in our district means housing demand has also increased. According to a 2023 report by the Waikato Housing Initiative, there is a housing shortfall of 741 houses, with a projection of 3,508 houses in 2043.
House prices have fallen following the record highs in 2022 and 2023. The mean house price in our district in 2025 is $692,359 (which is an 1.08% decrease from $699,856 in 2022) while the average mean rent is $542 per week (compared to $437 per week in 2022) . This puts our rent affordability score at 0.83, which is lower than Hamilton City and the National average (0.97 and 1.08).
The median household income in our district is $110,500 in 2024 (compared with $100,900 in 2022). For our district, the 2024 deposit affordability index is 0.61, compared to 0.55 in 2022, meaning deposit affordability has increased. The housing deposit affordability shows how entering the market has changed over time. The indicator compares price change with growth in median household income. The national average deposit affordability score is 0.76, while our nearest city, Hamilton, has a score of 0.68 as of 2024.
What's on the horizon?
Opportunities
- The national housing crisis has seen increased opportunities to form partnerships with Kainga Ora, iwi, NGOs, philanthropic organisations as well as private developers to ensure adequate supply of affordable housing for our communities.
- We are currently working on a change to our District Plan in collaboration with our iwi partners. The Waharoa Plan Change (Plan Change 49) is a plan change with Ngāti Hauā, local iwi of Waharoa. This plan change seeks to improve opportunities for growth while ensuring the natural and cultural aspects of Waharoa are retained and protected.
- We recently made our Papakāinga Plan Change (PC 54) operative. This plan change introduces new rules that enable quality papakāinga development that supports the social, cultural and economic wellbeing of tangata whenua. This plan change was also developed in conjunction with our iwi partners.
- The RMA reform does create some uncertainty for us, with the suggestion that the majority of planning will occur at a regional or even national level (i.e. National Planning Standards). However, given the speed at which the Government intends to introduce the new regime, it is likely that much of the existing local information will be used to inform the new planning documents. By doing some work now, we can ensure that the local voice of our communities is represented through the reform.
Challenges
- We are currently the only Elderly Persons Housing (EPH) provider, apart from aged care facilities, in our district. We provide tenants an annual survey to ensure we continue to be a good landlord and supply quality housing. In our 2023/24 annual report, 92% of respondents are satisfied or very satisfied with our elderly housing overall.
- We are responsible for providing sufficiently zoned land and the supporting infrastructure to enable housing development. The current growth rate is higher than expected, and we regularly review the timing of some of its projects to ensure we are investing in infrastructure at the right time and in the right place. The challenge is providing infrastructure at the right times to enable growth.
- We are also responsible for protecting the high quality soils found in our district, which supports ecosystems and food production for our community, while simultaneously balancing to align with growth enabling.
Council's response
- 109 units for elderly persons – waiting list, eligibility criteria, landlord only, no custodian services.
- Zoning of residential and future residential land to enable private development of housing.
- Providing infrastructure for residentially zoned land. The 2024-34 Long-Term Plan makes provision for additional capital and operational expenditure over the next 30 years to meet growth demands.
- Develop a growth strategy to identify areas of future urban growth across the district’s four main urban areas.
What do you stand for?
- What is the most important activity that we should do to respond to housing availability and affordability challenges?
- What is our role in ensuring our communities are well housed?
- How can we support better housing outcomes for our communities?
