Tongan people in New Zealand

Tenure

• In 2001, 23 percent of Tongan people aged 15 years and over said they owned or partly owned their own home – slightly below the level of 26 percent for the Pacific population. The comparable figure for the New Zealand population was 55 percent.
• Tongan men (23 percent) were slightly more likely than Tongan women (20 percent) to own the home in which they lived.
• Tongan people in the older age groups had a higher home ownership rate than their younger counterparts. In 2001, 45 percent of Tongans aged between 45 and 64 years owned their own home, whereas among those aged between 25 and 44 years, the equivalent proportion was 25 percent.
• Tongans born overseas were more likely to own their own home (26 percent) than New Zealand-born Tongan people (16 percent), as figure 9.1 shows. The older age structure of the overseas-born Tongan population is a contributing factor to this difference.

Rental housing

• The proportion of Tongan people living in rental accommodation increased from 57 percent in 1991 to 60 percent in 1996 and to 65 percent in 2001. Conversely, the proportion of the Tongan population living in dwellings owned (with or without a mortgage) by a member of the household decreased from 43 percent in 1991 to 40 percent in 1996 and to 35 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 Tongans living in rental accommodation, 58 percent lived in Housing New Zealand accommodation in 2001 – down from 59 percent in 1996.
• Proportionately more overseas-born Tongan people living in rental housing were in Housing New Zealand accommodation than those born in New Zealand (60 percent and 56 percent respectively).
• Of those Tongans living in rented accommodation in 2001, just over half (51 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 Tongan people are similar to the Pacific population, as figure 9.2 shows.