Addresses in New Zealand

A prospective expat who has been looking at the rentals posted on TradeMe recently asked about how addresses work in New Zealand. He was confused because there seemed to be a lot of “60A” or “2/16” as the house number even though some of these houses appeared to be single family homes. What did this mean? In the US, an A or B or additional number typically means that the house is a townhouse, apartment or condo.

In New Zealand, however, a 60A may very well be a house down a driveway behind another house. Many housing lots (or sections as most people call them here) were much deeper, but as density increased, people would develop a second house on their large lot and divide it into two properties down one driveway. Sometimes even more. It isn’t unheard of to find a 60A, 60B, 60C, etc. all nestled down one drive. Typically the house closes to the road is 60, with 60A behind it. However, if there are multiple letters, the first house might be A instead of no-lettered. So if a Kiwi gives you a lettered address, it is safe to assume that you will be walking down a driveway to find their front door. This really threw me for a loop when we first arrived because I thought the front house would think I was trespassing. That has never happened.

Numbers typically do indicated it is a townhouse or apartment situation. Instead of writing “16 Main Street, Apartment 1” in New Zealand, it is “1/16 Main Street.” In really crazy situations, you may even find a 1/60A 2/60A situation. It can get complicated with many subdivisions.

The moral of the story: don’t be intimidated or make assumptions about lettered addresses. This was the Kiwi solution to creating new unique addresses while increasing housing density, and no one will bat an eye if you accidentally walk up to the wrong house. It happens fairly frequently!