Ricky Wilson
The Forever House is expertly angled to clear the central barrier of a South Auckland bridge, while being transported to the Ara Education Charitable Trust.
While most of us sleep, there can be more going on out in the dark than we realise.
House movers are busy working, for starters.
On any regular weeknight around 15 houses are being moved around the country, says Jonathan Bhana-Thomson, chief executive of the New Zealand Heavy Haulage Association (NZHHA).
Each year approximately 3700 New Zealand houses are relocated from one property to another.
We know this because house relocations require a permit, so can be counted. By contrast, in most cases there is no permit required to demolish a house, aside from controls dealing with asbestos or health and safety issues.
How many demolished houses could have been relocated, restored and given a new life?
The rationale for doing so is strong. Here are five reasons why relocations make a smart, sustainable choice and could save us more than we realise.
Saving money
“Relocating costs about two thirds of the cost of building a new house,” says Bhana-Thomson. “It’s a good way of getting a solid house that can be upgraded in a relatively cost-effective manner.”
Abigail Dougherty and Ricky Wilson/Stuff
Students from five south Auckland schools will be contributing to the The Forever House Project, a partnership between the Ara Education Charitable Trust, Stuff and others.
He says there are fewer character houses around, but many older houses come with solid timber and features that would be very expensive to buy or to have constructed.
Relocated houses can especially suit people with DIY skills, because they can live in the house and stagger renovating costs over time.
Providing homes
Gary Andrews, of Andrews Housemovers has been in the business since 1975, and has overseen the moving of more than 4500 old and new homes, government and school buildings.
Andrews says there are plenty of things people could be doing with older buildings, and believes the government could do more to incentivise relocations, saving them from landfill and helping people into their first home.
“One barrier is that banks don’t like loaning any money on relocated homes until they’re a fixture on the site. A lot of operators try to assist their clients until the banks get there, and that can be very difficult.”
Sometimes houses get moved more than once – like the Forever House. Andrews moved it onto farmland about 25 years ago, recently relocating it to the Ara Education Charitable Trust (AECT) where it is now being renovated into a warm, dry home.
The AECT is a collaboration between industry, government agencies and schools to create work and training opportunities for South Auckland school-leavers.
Andrews is a big supporter of the work they do using old houses for coaching South Auckland students in building skills and sustainable renovations.
“It’s fantastic working with older buildings and incredibly satisfying to see the students do them up. Then when we’ve moved the buildings out they have become someone’s home.”
Avoiding waste
“When a house is demolished as opposed to relocated it creates a huge amount of landfill. Depending on the size of the house it is around 20 or 30 tonnes of waste,” says Bhana-Thomson.
The NZHHA has consulted with the government on landfill reduction, advocating they relocate more homes rather than let them go to landfill.
Economies of production
Not all relocated homes are old. Prefabricated homes are prebuilt in factories and relocated throughout New Zealand. Andrews says this can be a good way for young people to get into the housing market.
It can speed up the building process, create efficiencies of scale and reduce waste with sustainable use of materials.
Maximising orientation
Not all houses can be moved, but New Zealand’s older wooden and stucco housing stock are particularly well suited to being shipped about.
“You can be a bit creative with a relocated house,” says Bhana-Thomson. “It doesn’t always have to fit square on the section, like we always had them. You can place them to face the sun.”
The Ara Education Charitable Trust (AECT) is an innovative collaboration creating work and training opportunities for South Auckland school-leavers. Click here to donate.
Learn expert advice and sustainable building tips. Follow the progress of the Forever House as the AECT, Stuff and our sponsors turn a derelict house into a warm, dry, eco-friendly and low cost home.