Guide
A moving house checklist for New Zealand
Start six weeks out by booking your mover and ordering boxes. At four weeks begin packing rooms you do not use. At two weeks transfer power, internet and address details. In the last week pack daily-use items and set aside an essentials box for the first night.
Last checked 16 September 2026
What should you do six weeks before you move?
Six weeks out, book a removalist or a truck — the good ones are gone for month-end and long weekends — work out how many boxes you actually need so they arrive before you start, and begin getting rid of things. Decisions are cheap at this point and everything is still reversible.
- Book a removalist or a truck. Good ones are gone for month-end and long weekends.
- Work out how many boxes you actually need, so they arrive before you want to start.
- Start getting rid of things. Every box you do not pack is a box you do not carry twice.
What should you pack four weeks out?
Four weeks out, pack the rooms you can live without: the spare room, the garage, books and off-season clothes. Label every box by room and contents on the side, where you can read it in a stack, and photograph the back of the TV before you unplug anything.
- Pack the spare room, the garage, books and off-season clothes.
- Label every box by room and contents, on the side where you can read it in a stack.
- Photograph the back of your TV and anything else with a cable arrangement you will not remember.
Who do you need to tell when you move house?
Two weeks out, tell power and gas, your internet provider, NZ Post, your bank, IRD and insurer, your doctor, dentist and vet, and the schools or early childhood centre. Book the internet transfer first — a new connection can take weeks. None of it is difficult and all of it is annoying if you forget.
| Who | What |
|---|---|
| Power and gas | Final reading at the old place, connection date at the new one |
| Internet | Book the transfer early — a new connection can take weeks |
| NZ Post | Redirect your mail |
| Bank, IRD, insurer | Change of address |
| Doctor, dentist, vet | Transfer records if you are moving town |
| Schools and early childhood | Enrolment and start dates |
What do you do in the last week and on moving day?
In the last week pack the kitchen, then the bathroom, then the bedrooms, in that order, keeping one essentials box open until the morning. On the day, walk through every cupboard, the hot water cupboard, the letterbox and under the house before you hand back the keys.
Take meter readings and photograph them.