From lifting and lowering the house, to Project Managing every aspect of your house relocation, House Lifters can do as little or as much as you require. Our house moving services can also include building new foundations, piles, and renovations.

House Lifters also has specialist foundation and piling teams if this is needed for the new site. Foundation options include the revolutionary Armadillo™ Foundation System. If required, House Lifters can also strengthen the ground with remedial underpinning (ground stabilisation) e.g. Screw Piles, driven timber piles, stone piles.

How much does it cost to move a house?

Cost Estimate: If you supply enough information in your initial phone call or email, House Lifters may be able to provide an Estimate straight away. The cost of moving the house will mainly depend on the size of the house, and how long the project will take; allowing for factors such as access, site preparation, whether the house will be transported in one piece, and how long and how difficult the route is - including in regard to roof height, power and phone lines.

Complimentary Quote: To provide a written Quote, House Lifters will visit the existing and proposed sites. We will also need to have all the relevant information, which will include:

House Dimensions: Length, width at base, overall width including eaves, overall height, internal stud height.

Existing Site & New Site: E.g. Access / Flat, sloping, steep? / Ground at new site has good bearing capacity?

Age of House

Type of Roofing & Wall Cladding

Existing piles, joists and bearings

Existing concrete work e.g. concrete floors, porch

Key Aspects of Moving a House

Building & Resource Consents, Specialist Reports: Consent requirements vary between councils/Building Consent Authorities (BCAs), so it is best to contact them direct. The homeowner is usually responsible for obtaining these, however, if you need advice or assistance with your application/s, please let us know.  Note: a building consent will still be required if you are repositioning the house on the same site.

Officially, building consents are ready in Auckland between 60 - 90 working days after all the application information is received by council, however it can take longer. Resource consents can take longer than building consents, depending on whether all necessary information was included in your application, and if the house relocation needs to be notified.

Learn more about Consents:
Auckland City Council website   |   Christchurch City council website   |   Resource Consents: Ministry for the Environment website

Overdimension Permit: House Lifters is responsible for obtaining this from the NZTA, to legally transport the house on public roads. In Auckland we may also need to obtain a NECAR permit from Auckland Transport (Non-Excavation Corridor Access Request). 

Council Resite Report: Councils have varying names for this, e.g. Inspection of a Secondhand Building / House Relocation Report. A Council Inspector or consultant inspects the building and provides a report stating whether they are happy with the condition of the building, and specifies what improvements need to be made after the house is relocated (and within a specified timeframe).

Geotechnical Report (Soil Report): Undertaken by an engineer. Some councils require this as part of the building consent application, to determine the stability of the soil – e.g. for foundations, drainage and stormwater disposal.

NB: Allow enough time for Consents, Reports and permits to be obtained, when agreeing to a removal deadline with the vendor. House Lifters will book a removal date when these have been obtained, our Contract has been signed, and your Deposit has been paid to House Lifters.

Site Preparation & Clearing:

Existing Site: Who will be responsible for this – e.g. tree and fence removal, if required before house can removed. Does the site need to be cleared after the house has been removed – if so, who will be doing this.

New Site: Ensure any access issues are taken care of, the ground is suitable, and the foundations will be ready.

Services – Disconnection & Connection: Ensure this arranged (e.g. power, sewer, water, phone, gas). But, wait until the house is relocated before running services across the new site.