This report provides information about people in New Zealand at the time of the 2013 Census who lived in dwellings we consider to be outside the norm – by which we mean different from the private houses, units, and apartments that the majority of the population lives in. 'Outside the norm' dwellings include non-private (communal) dwellings and alternative forms of private housing.
Most of these dwellings were non-private dwellings, which were generally available to the public for particular purposes – eg, employment, study, special needs, or recreation. Non-private dwellings provide short- or long-term communal or transitory-type accommodation, and include residential care for older people, motor camps, boarding houses, and hotels and motels.
A smaller proportion lived in 'other occupied private dwellings' – which we refer to in this report as ‘alternative private dwellings'. These include improvised shelters and mobile dwellings.
Dwelling types covered in Living outside the norm
Living outside the norm focuses on people living in the dwelling types:
- residential care for older people
- residential and community care facilities
- boarding houses
- hotels, motels, and guest accommodation
- prisons and penal institutions
- other occupied private dwellings.
For further information about these dwelling types see the definitions section.
The people identified as living in non-private dwellings were in these dwellings on census night, and stated this was where they usually lived. This excludes those who were visiting on census night, eg people holidaying at a motor camp.
The counts of people who usually live in occupied private dwellings also includes absentees – ie people who usually lived in the dwelling but were absent at the time of the census. We only collect selected information about absentees – namely, age and sex.
Note that changes between censuses in the overall number of non-private dwellings, and in certain types of non-private dwellings (such as residential and community care facilities) may be partly because we've developed better methods for identifying these dwellings over time.
We have included a comparison of the number of people living in residential care for older people in 2013 and 2006. However, due to data quality issues we have not compared the number of people living in residential and community care facilities, boarding houses, or hotels, motels, and other guest accommodation in 2013 with 2006.
2.3 percent of population living in non-private and alternative dwellings in 2013
Of the 4,242,048 people usually resident in New Zealand at the time of the 2013 Census, 98,397 people (2.3 percent) lived in non-private and alternative dwellings.
More than half the non-private dwellings were hotels, motels, or guest accommodation. The category ‘residential care for older people’ had the highest number of usual residents (31,899 people).
Table 1 shows the number of each type of non-private and alternative dwelling, and the number of people living in each type of dwelling. Note that the number of dwellings in some categories is believed to be an undercount1, so the number of people living in these dwellings may also be an undercount.
Table 1
Number of occupied non-private dwellings and other occupied private dwellings, and number of people living in them
2013 Census |
| Type of dwelling |
Number |
| Dwellings |
People(1) |
| Non-private dwelling |
| Residential care for older people |
822 |
31,899 |
| Public and private hospital |
171 |
2,004 |
| Residential and community care facilities |
1,059 |
6,018 |
| Educational institution |
297 |
16,698 |
| Defence establishment |
24 |
1,761 |
| Prisons and penal institutions |
42 |
4,257 |
| Other institution(2) |
129 |
1,533 |
| Hotel, motel or guest accommodation |
4,866 |
11,589 |
| Boarding house |
174 |
2,718 |
| Other occupied non-private dwelling(3) |
1,008 |
2,196 |
| Occupied non-private dwelling not further defined(4) |
144 |
405 |
| Total non-private dwellings |
8,739 |
81,078 |
| Other occupied private dwelling |
| Dwelling in a motor camp |
2,556 |
4,059 |
| Mobile dwelling not in a motor camp |
5,586 |
8,412 |
| Improvised dwelling or shelter |
2,616 |
4,824 |
| Roofless or rough sleeper |
24 |
27 |
| Total other occupied private dwellings |
10,782 |
17,319 |
| Total non-private dwellings and other occupied private dwellings |
19,521 |
98,397 |
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1. For non-private dwellings, this is people in the dwelling on census night and stated that this was their usual residence. It excluded people who usually lived in a non-private dwelling but were absent on census night. For private dwellings, this is people who usually lived in the dwelling. It includes people who were absent on census night.
2. Consists of welfare institution, religious institution, and night shelter.
3. Consists of motor camp/camping ground; work, construction or training camp; youth, school, or scout/guide camp; communal staff quarters; commercial vessel; and marae complex.
4. Consists of communes and other non-private dwellings that could not be further classified according to their type/function.
Source: Statistics New Zealand
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People in non-private dwellings treemap, 2013 Census
The following image comes from our treemap about people in non-private dwellings.
Explore the interactive treemap to compare the relative numbers of people living in each type of non-private dwelling.
See also: our treemap about people living in occupied private dwellings
Find more detailed data in NZ.Stat about people who lived in non-private dwellings, including breakdowns by age and geographic location.
1. The 2013 Census post-enumeration survey did not estimate the undercount for specific types of dwellings. While we don’t know the exact numbers, we do know that it was harder to count some of these type of dwellings, particularly boarding houses. It is hard to identify certain types of dwelling. For example, it can be difficult to distinguish between boarding houses and private dwellings. Census counted only a very small number of roofless or rough sleepers (six in Auckland and 27 nationally) owing to difficulties in enumerating this very transient population.