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Newly released 2023 Census data shows that around one-in-16 houses in New Zealand are too small for the number of people living in them

Public Policy / news
Newly released 2023 Census data shows that around one-in-16 houses in New Zealand are too small for the number of people living in them
[updated]
crowded-houserf1.jpg
Source: 123rf.com

For the second Census in a row there's been a measurable increase in the rate of overcrowding in New Zealand houses.

Statistics NZ has released more new information from the 2023 Census. And according to Stats NZ there's more than 100,000 households that fit its definition of overcrowded.

Stats NZ says around one-in-16 households experienced crowded living conditions in 2023, which is up from around one-in-17 in the 2018 census and just one-in-20 in 2013.

Crowding occurs when a dwelling is too small for the number of people living in the household, Stats NZ says. It can be measured in different ways, such as the number of people per room or bedroom. It says its definition is based on the Canadian National Occupancy Standard (CNOS) and provides a derived index of whether a household is crowded or not crowded, based on the number of bedrooms needed for the typology of the household and the number of bedrooms in the dwelling. (A more full explanation is given at bottom of the article, taken from this Stats NZ data info page)

"Stats NZ has measured crowding since the 1980s. We calculate the number of bedrooms needed based on the demographic composition of the household. This informs the household crowding index which provides insight into how we live in our homes – whether we have spare bedrooms or need more bedrooms, Stats NZ said.

Crowding was in fact worse in this country in the 1980s, but then improved through the 1990s. However, recently it has worsened. And the most recent rise in crowding has come despite high levels of construction of new houses around the country.

Stats NZ principal analyst Rosemary Goodyear says crowding is "a complex topic" and isn’t just about large households.

"For example, we know that people in crowded households may struggle to find suitable and affordable housing that meets their needs."

Goodyear said an increase in household crowding "is concerning" as crowding can affect physical health, and is a risk factor for infectious disease.

Around the country, the only region that didn't see an increase in household crowding between the 2018 and 2023 censuses was Auckland - but it already had amongst the most overcrowded conditions anyway.

In 2023, Gisborne had the highest proportion of crowded households in a region at 10.7%, followed by Auckland at 8.8%.

Although Auckland region had the second highest crowding rate, within Auckland there were very high rates of crowding in some local board areas, Stats NZ said.

The highest rates were in South Auckland where around a quarter of households in Māngere-Ōtāhuhu and Ōtara-Papatoetoe experienced crowding.

Stats NZ gives this detailed explanation of household crowding:

Household crowding is determined by comparing the number of bedrooms a household needs, and the number of bedrooms available in the dwelling. The number of bedrooms needed is assessed based on the demographic composition of the household, and is calculated using the following rules:

  • there should be no more than two persons per bedroom
  • children aged less than five years may reasonably share a bedroom, irrespective of their gender (male, female, another)
  • children aged 5 to 17 years may reasonably share a bedroom only with the same gender (male only with another male, female only with female, and people of another gender only with someone else of another gender)
  • single adults 18 years and over and any additional children require a separate bedroom
  • household members 18 years or over should have a separate bedroom, as should parents or couples.

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48 Comments

How many people per bedroom constitutes overcrowding though?  Two couples sharing a two bedroom flat?  Two kids sharing a bedroom?  Someone occupying a sunroom/rumpus room as a bedroom?

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It's all explained above and I am actually surprised there isn't more homes considered overcrowded given they do recommend children above 5 to only share the bedroom with another child of the same gender.

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The article originally just says it calculates overcrowding by comparing household demographic with number of bedrooms.  

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When we bought our house there were 2 daughters in one bedroom. So I built a wall down the middle of it. Perfect! The things you do when you have initiative. No worse than living on a boat. Way better than bunk beds.

Sure, after they reached a certain age that was not appropriate but at that time there were no problems whatsoever. They just had to coordinate when to turn the lights off. Haha.

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How is that better than bunk beds?

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Separation

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"So I built a wall down the middle of it."

So long as they remain a minimum of 6 sqm and have a window - all good.

Current planning rules, that suggest much larger bedrooms, are daft.

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Floor to ceiling window at the ends. No different to before.

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There are no planning rules that require that, or even suggest that.

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Sorry. I should have said planning "guidelines", e.g. the Akl Design Manual, which too many planners refer to as gospel should you suggest children's bedrooms don't need to be big as that manual suggests.

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Yep, agree. And to be fair, some of the council urban designers treat that almost as ‘rules’. 
Something I really like about Chris Bishop’s ideas for RMA is to require councils to only use certain prescribed standards, and if you comply with those - no discretionary process for council planners and urban designers to make a meal out of. 
It’s not really his idea though. The mighty Alan Johnson, during his brief stint at MfE, was pushing the idea.

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Additional information added. Thanks.

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I suspect our family (10 kids & 2 adults) living in a 3 bed house - probably considered overcrowded. We had a great life growing up!

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Pack em in; stack em high. 

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That graph is whack. 18 different data points for 9 locations. 

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Fixed. Thanks.

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Gisborne is very telling. A city of beneficiaries, the more Bene-boyztm you pack into each state house, the more money to spend. 

15% of Gisborne's population is receiving a main benefit.

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Pack the extra mattresses & toothbrushes into the Nissan Elgrand and go for a drive on inspection day.  

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The Nissan Elgrand comment is just spot on.

 

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Lest we forget the Nissan Cube

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Stats NZ gives this detailed explanation of household crowding:

We made up a bunch of rules that don't take any account of cultural or personal preferences, even though we suggest they do by using the word "demographic". We based these rules around Eurocentric norms, and decided anyone not meeting them is weird, creepy, and quite possibly abusive.

Fixed it for them.

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& still households are now less crowded than last century.

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So? Better than 100 years ago? Progress, huh? /sarc

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Better than 25+ ago (refer graphs before 1996), better than most of my lifetime & all my parents & grandparents lives

Definitely progress, no /sarc

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Wow.

So you're saying we should ignore health & safety advice because they are 'Eurocentric norms'?

Might I suggest the Europeans are about 300 years ahead of us in this regard?

I.e. we should learn from their mistakes?

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I may have used an incorrect term there, I'm very tired, it's been a long week. By Eurocentric I mean Western, white, colonial, pick your least offensive term.

What if the bedroom is 25sqm? What if an entire house is open plan save for the bathroom and toilet facilities? What if the whole family is happy sleeping in the same large room?

Should 6 year old twins, a boy and a girl, be separated on their birthday no matter how close or happy they are because they cross an arbitrary age boundary?

I'm not saying cramming four people into a 2.4m x 2.4m room is a wise idea, I'm pointing out the "rules" use for the metric are stupid because the parameters aren't fully defined, and focus only on the demographic, not the physics. Maybe there's more to the rules than have been disclosed, I certainly hope so.

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"Should 6 year old twins, a boy and a girl, be separated on their birthday no matter how close or happy they are because they cross an arbitrary age boundary?"

Who said that?

Was it copied from the wise and insightful, and always correct, social media? Or as we call it nowadays, A.I.?

p.s. Don't post when you're tired.

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  • children aged less than five years may reasonably share a bedroom, irrespective of their gender (male, female, another)
  • children aged 5 to 17 years may reasonably share a bedroom only with the same gender (male only with another male, female only with female, and people of another gender only with someone else of another gender)

That said it. I guess we all miss details from time to time. You're coming in hot in the comments section for the second day in a row, are you OK? My concern is genuine - as I said yesterday you post a lot of valuable comments, and I learn a lot from them sometimes, but lately your tone has changed. Hope all is well with you.

PS: I'm always tired, it comes with my job. But you didn't know this, so I'm not going to read any subtext into your suggestion.

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Okay. You got me. I never expected anyone to take such distinctions so literally. Seems some do. Or want too. Weird.

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What can I say, I'm not a fan of ill-considered definitions. If I wrote code with such scant regard for obvious exceptions I'd be well on the way to being "performance managed" out of a job.

I expect more thought to be put into a report from the likes of Stats NZ. Maybe I should lower my expectations. 

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Statistical definitions are always open to question. That one, IMO, is mild compared to what Stats NZ consider as 'employed'.

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Touché. 

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One of the unintended consequences of unaffordable housing in NZ.

There are many others. 

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Yup. Sadly rates of incest, familiar rape, and sexual abuse within households will increase.

But hey. Let's pretend the future costs won't be huge and vote for more tax cuts.

edit: my apologies if my comments are confronting. However, and sadly, they are facts.

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I'd be remiss not to ask you for evidence to your assertions there Chris. Let's see them please.

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Such information is widely known among mental health professionals, economists and historians. Alas, such facts are extremely unpalatable for general consumption as tender members of our proletariat start clutching their pearls and wailing. Or put another way, stop being so damned lazy and look it up!

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Neil and Tim Finn couldn't dream the crowded house days are over - I imagine it will only get worse from here.

 

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One of the consequences of Labour ending the ability for landlords to terminate leases, is that landlords were no longer prepared to take a chance on low income or risky tenants.  This contributed to the massive rise in overcrowding, emergency housing, and the 500% blowout in the public housing waitlist.   Mindless law changes have real world consequences - "being kind" doesnt work in the real world.  Most people would prefer to have a house for 12 months than have no housing at all.

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True. The intentions are good but the result evil. The error made because those in govt are so distant from those who they govern. The progressives would do almost anything to help the low income risky tenants - almost but not admit the mistake. My secondary dwelling granny-flat has been on AirBnB ever since that law was changed - I will not risk unsuitable tenants living next door to my grandchildren. Bad tenants just once and that was enough. 

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So despite the highest growth in the country, Auckland was the only region that has declining overcrowding.

What are they doing right.

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Greater supply. They've been at it since 2016. (My posts for the last year explain why.)

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Not completing their census forms.

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Some years ago a Chinese property guru gave talks on how Chinese property investors in NZ could increase the rent on their house rentals by buying 2-bedroom home units and converting the dining room space into a third bedroom so they could then rent their unit out as a three-bedroom unit and charge a higher rent. 

So my neighbouring unit was thus purchased by a Chinese immigrant and quickly had the open-plan dining room converted into a third bedroom. He let out one of the original two bedrooms to a Chinese student while the owner occupied the other original bedroom.  He let out the newly-created third bedroom to another Chinese student.  One day the owner knocked on my door and said he was going to Australia for a few weeks and could I keep an eye on the two Chinese students while he was away.  He thereupon thrust a bottle of cheap plonk into my hands and quickly departed.

It was the height of a very hot summer.  About a week later there was a frantic pounding on my front door which I opened to confront one of the students in a very distressed state.  I could barely make out what he was trying to tell me but eventually I gathered that there had been a highly-emotional dispute between him and the other student over whether or not the main front door (close to the street) could be left open all night or not.  

Apparently, this student, who occupied the new bedroom, had found his exceedingly small bedroom with no opening window, the so-called third bedroom, so hot that he found he had to leave open not only his bedroom door but also the adjacent main front door of the unit.  However, the other student who occupied one of the original normal-sized bedrooms thought that leaving the main door open all night was a security risk and demanded that it be left closed.  Thus, a dispute arose that soon developed into a shrieking 'cat-fight' with one of them ending up on my doorstep.  

While I was trying to make head and tail of things the other student arrived to explain his side of the dispute.  At this point they had a set-to and I had to stand between them and hold them apart.  

Then the police turned up ( one of the students had phoned them) as I was holding them apart.  They asked what was going on and I told them that it was a dispute over whether the front door of their unit could be left open whereupon one of the policemen said that it was only a civil dispute and departed while I was left trying to calm the students down.  The next day the 'small-bedroom' student departed to live somewhere else.

The Chinese landlord had an air-conditioner installed in that small bedroom after I told him what had  happened. 

Eventually, two more neighbouring home units were purchased by other Chinese property investors and had the dining room spaces converted into third bedrooms. 

 

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I see it with Indian immigrants. They rent a two-bedroom plus garage and fill it with mattresses. The kids sleep in the same bedroom as their parents, and they rent out the other bedroom plus the garage. They tell the property manager the parents are over on holiday, except they never move out. 

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It's got little to do with being of any race, colour or creed.

It is all about what they can afford. 

And how much they can suffer for a better life.

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This definition for overcrowding is ridiculous.

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Roll on Chris Bishop's with Chris Penk's granny flats. I fear it will be kiboshed by local councils and the insurance industry.

A ridiculous NP restriction of no buildings within 3m of a road boundary. You can get an exemption but of course pay your fee and a Council official will come round and most likely  grant a concession. Have seen buildings 1.5m from a road boundary although those may pre-date this restriction which I think only came in about two-three years ago.

I hope there are other readers and contributors to interest who made submissions on mostly pre-prepared choice questions on granny flats on what I thought was a good job done by MBIE.

Building restriction choice of 1.5m from a boundary comes to mind on one of the pre-prepared questions.

If granny flats come into being, I understand the building restrictions would become universal with Councils not being able to opt out. There are too many local discretionary cop outs right now.

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This has only become an issue since 1980 when a public servant with not much to one day,  invented a job for themselves.  No doubt there are now 100s of them on this project.

How did we all manage years ago ..many of our parents, grandparents and great grandparents came from.fsmilies of 10 or more children. They all survived in houses that were not optimal, and the majority led very successful lives.

Lord Rutherford that split the atom and became one of the worlds greatest scientists had 11 siblings all living in a small house near Wakefield. Overcrowding certainly  didn't hinder his prospects,  education and life 

 

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