Key points
Housing affordability relates to the ability of households to rent or purchase housing in a locality of choice at a reasonable price, the capacity of households to meet ongoing housing costs, and the degree that discretionary income is available to achieve an acceptable standard of living. Affordable housing should leave enough residual income to cover other basic living costs, as well as allowing households to save for irregular but unavoidable costs such as medical and dental care.
- Approximately 23% of households in the Waikato Region pay one-third or more of their income towards housing costs compared to the national average of 25% and Auckland Region average of 32%.
- Latest results from the 2007 Household Economic Survey show that households in the Auckland Region spent on average 15% of their total net expenditure on housing costs (not including household utilities). This was the highest of the five ‘regions’ covered by the HES. Subsequent figures from the 2008 survey show that households in the Auckland Region spent on average 17% of their income on housing costs (not including household utilities).
Households with housing costs that are at least 30% of total net income, as a percentage of all households 2000-2001 – Waikato and other regions
Source: Statistics New Zealand Household Economic Survey
What agencies are doing
Information currently being collated.
What you can do to help
Information currently being collated.
More information
More detail on this indicator, including how and where this information is collected, is available here.
What we want to achieve
The community outcomes we are seeking to achieve by improving housing affordability are:
- Maori enjoy the same quality of health, education, housing, employment and economic outcomes as non-Maori.
- We have a choice of healthy and affordable housing that we are happy to live in and that is close to places for work, study and recreation.
- Maori have the ability to live on ancestral land in quality, affordable housing.