Tokelauan people in New Zealand

Tenure

• In 2001, 22 percent of Tokelauan people aged 15 years and over stated that they owned or partly owned their own home – below the level of 26 percent for the Pacific population. The comparable figure for the New Zealand population was 55 percent.
• Tokelauan men (23 percent) were as likely as Tokelauan women (22 percent) to own the home in which they lived.
• Tokelauan people in the older age groups had a higher home ownership rate than their younger counterparts. In 2001, 55 percent of Tokelauans aged between 45 and 64 years owned their own home, whereas among those aged between 25 and 44 years the equivalent proportion was 21 percent.
• Tokelauans born overseas were far more likely to own their own home (33 percent) than New Zealand-born Tokelauan people (10 percent). The older age structure of the overseas-born Tokelauan population is a contributing factor to this difference.

Rental housing

• The proportion of Tokelauan people living in rental accommodation increased from 47 percent in 1991 to 56 percent in 1996 and to 62 percent in 2001. Conversely, the proportion of the Tokelauan population living in dwellings owned (with or without a mortgage) by a member of the household decreased from 53 percent in 1991 to 44 percent in 1996 and to 38 percent in 2001.
• The trend away from home ownership mirrors the national situation, with the proportion of the New Zealand population living in rental housing increasing from 25 percent in 1991 to 33 percent in 2001.

• Among those Tokelauans living in rental accommodation, 54 percent were living in Housing New Zealand accommodationin 2001 – a decrease from 65 percent in 1996.
• Proportionately more overseas-born Tokelauan people living in rental housing were in Housing New Zealand accommodation than those born in New Zealand (66 percent and 48 percent respectively).
• Of those Tokelauans living in rented accommodation in 2001, more than half (53 percent) were living in households paying less than $150 a week. By comparison, the equivalent proportion for the New Zealand population was 38 percent.
• The levels of weekly rent paid by Tokelauan people are illustrated in figure 9.2.