11 February 2025
Official Information Request - 8140015182
(Please quote this in any correspondence)
By email
[FYI request #29666 email] Tēnā koe Erica
Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (LGOIMA)
How many households pay rates
Thank you for your request for official information which we received on 31 January. The
specific details of your request and our responses are set out below
What is the total number of households in Auckland?
How many households pay rates?
How many households get their rates for free eg remitted under Māori freehold
land.
Your Questions 1 and 2
Auckland Council does not hold information on the number of households in Auckland.
Statistics New Zealand has information on dwellings in Auckland
here
The closest information we have in our data base is the number of residential or lifestyle
SUIPs (separately used or inhabited part of a rating unit) excluding those with a vacant
land use. I have presented the numbers below.
For rating year 2024/2025
(as at Nov 2024)
Total number of residential or lifestyle SUIPs
609,237
excluding vacant land use
Of the above:
Number of SUIPs that pay rates
608,335
Number of SUIPs that don’t pay rates (except
902
rates applicable to non-rateable properties in
accordance with legislation)
Note that numbers may change slightly over time due to maintenance of the rating
database.
Private Bag 92300, Auckland 1142 |
aucklandcouncil.govt.nz |
Ph 09 301 0101
Your Question 3
We have a total of 259 rating units that are Māori Freehold Land (MFL).
• There are 117 non-rateable MFL rating units
• There are 142 fully rateable MFL rating units
• 25 receive a full remission
• 22 receive a partial remission
Māori Freehold Land is fully rateable under the Local Government (Rating) Act 2002 (LGRA)
unless it has non-rateable status under Schedule 1 Part 1 of the Act. Examples of non-
rateable MFL are some Māori reserves, marae, meeting places, reservations, customary land
and land that is unused.
For fully rateable land, the council remits rates in part or in full through remission policies
allowed by the LGRA. Current remissions are made under policies for -
a) unused MFL (Policy 1), or
b) MFL used for non-commercial purposes for the community benefit of Māori (Policy
4)
In June 2024, we wrote off rates and arrears on 39 rating units on the basis that they were
uncollectable (under Section 900A of the LGRA). Rates on MFL land are deemed to be
uncollectable as this land cannot be sold to collect unpaid rates
As a result of the above 177 MFL rating units effectively paid no rates in 2023/24
• Fully non-rateable – 117
• 100% Remission – 21
• Uncollectable write-off - 39
The decision by Auckland Council to release the information contained in this response
was made by Rhonwen Heath.
You have the right to seek an investigation and review of this response by the Ombudsman.
Information about how to make a complaint is availabl
e at www.ombudsman.parliament.nz
or freephone 0800 802 602.
If you have any questions please contact me on 09 301 0101, quoting LGOIMA No.
8140015182.
Ngā mihi
Joanne Kearney
Senior Business Partner, Privacy & Official Information
Te Wheako ā-Kirihoko me ngā Ratonga Matihiko | Customer Experience & Digital
Services
Private Bag 92300, Auckland 1142 |
aucklandcouncil.govt.nz |
Ph 09 301 0101
Private Bag 92300, Auckland 1142 |
aucklandcouncil.govt.nz |
Ph 09 301 0101
