Onehunga in a nutshell
A Fencible village
Onehunga was one of four villages set up in 1847 for retired soldiers of the Royal New Zealand Fencible Corps, and was the largest settlement south of the city in the late 1800s.
Restored bungalows
Many of Onehunga's 1920s bungalows and earlier villas have been restored in recent years.
Building everywhere
On census day 2023 the Maungakiekie-Tāmaki board had 1920 dwellings under construction, 6.3% of all its homes, the highest share in Auckland.
Mostly renters
In 2023, 52.7% of households in the board area paid rent and 39.2% of homes were joined dwellings.
Drier than it was
The share of homes that weren't damp rose 8.8 points to 76.5% between 2018 and 2023, one of the biggest improvements in Auckland. Onehunga still had flooding in the 27 January 2023 storm.
Landlords and tenants
With so many renters, healthy homes work is steady here. The living room needs fixed heating that can reach 18°C, and the kitchen and bathroom need extractor fans that vent outside. Smoke alarms must be in every bedroom or within 3 metres of each bedroom door, and on every level.
Neither tenants nor landlords may do electrical work in a rental themselves, unless they hold a current practising licence. See healthy homes electrical work.
Restoring a bungalow, or building behind one
Restoring a bungalow is a good time to replace an old fuse board and any rubber-insulated cable. Building townhouses on the back of the section means a new connection from Vector, and Vector says new connections work submitted from 16 October 2026 is likely to be scheduled in 2027. Talk to an electrician about the supply before the plans are final.
Our take for Onehunga
If you're renting the house out after restoring it, we'd get the electrician to sign off heating, fans and smoke alarms at the same time as the rewire. One visit, one invoice, and the compliance statement for the tenancy agreement is easy to write.
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.