Howick's layers
The Fencible village
Settlers' raupō cottages had mostly been replaced with wooden ones by December 1849. All Saints Church, built in 1847, was the first parish church in the Auckland region.
Character streets
The Unitary Plan has a Howick special character area. Picton Street developed from 1920 to 1930, and post-war subdivisions came after WWII.
The big growth
Howick was a small farming centre until the 1950s. The Panmure bridge opened in 1959, and major suburban growth followed in the 1960s and 1970s.
On the water
Howick sits between the Tāmaki River and the Tāmaki Strait, with Mellons Bay and Cockle Bay either side of Howick Beach.
The numbers
The suburb had 4,011 dwellings in 2023. Across the Howick board, 66.0% of homes were owned and 34.0% mainly rented.
Character homes in the village
A 1920s house on Picton Street or near the village centre has usually been rewired in parts over the years. If yours still has a fuse board or no RCDs, or the cable in the ceiling has rubber insulation, it's worth a proper check. In the special character area, changes to the outside, like moving a meter board, may need council approval. See old wiring.
Family homes from the 1960s and 1970s
These houses were wired for a much smaller load. Add heat pumps, a bigger oven and a home office and the board can run short of space. A switchboard upgrade with RCD protection, plus extra power points where the multiboxes are, covers most of it.
If you're adding a heat pump to meet the healthy homes standards in a rental, it needs a thermostat and enough capacity to heat the living room to 18°C.
What we'd do in Howick
Work out which era your house belongs to, then ask the electrician to quote for the board first. In both old and post-war Howick homes, the board decides what else is possible.
Want a specialist to sort it?
Tell us the job and your postcode. We match the licence-checked local electrician who does this kind of work, and they call you. No ring-around, and your number goes to them alone.