March 17, 2020
Hutt Valley survey confirms Maori housing stress
Research done for Hutt City Council has identified Māori are disproportionately affected by housing stress because a higher proportion are on lower incomes.
It also found the proportion of low-income households with people of Māori or Pacific descent is higher than the average for greater Wellington.
Setting the affordable price of a house at $550,000, 90 per cent of renters could not afford to buy at that price.
At the time of the 2013 census, which is the most recent data available for the question, 82 per cent of private renters earning less than $50,000 spent more than 30 per cent of their gross household income on rent, and 40 per cent paid more than half of their gross household income on rent.
The research was commissioned as part of the development of a council housing strategy.
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