Moving to Dunedin

Housing in Dunedin varies greatly and although the infamously cold student housing is better than it used to be, an under-insulated home will feel colder than the thermometer suggests. Before you sign up to a property, ask what insulation it has, heating type and how much sun it gets because warm and dry matters more than square metres. Rental properties must meet New Zealand tenancy standards for insulation and heating. If you’re arriving in Dunedin in February, you will be competing with the many students who arrive at this time.

This is where local help counts and our home find consultants can guide you on which properties get the sun and stay dry. They will send you market information before you arrive then walk you through the properties and assist with the lease or purchase. If arriving in mid-winter our team can have the power connected and beds and heaters in place before you get there.

Goods travelling by sea take weeks to reach Dunedin, and most people arrive here before their container does. Decide what items will travel with you on your flight (bedding, kitchen basics, work equipment, kids’ essentials) and what can wait. Then plan for the empty house period. Rentals usually come with very little in them or you can look for temporary furnished accommodation like a motel while your goods are on the way.

Crown can help you out and arrange temporary accommodation while you search for something more permanent, and hired furniture can fill an unfurnished rental until your own arrives. Our Dunedin storage facility will hold your goods until move-in day. Storage is charged weekly with no fixed term condition and out again on seven working days’ notice. You will be able to follow the container the whole way too.

New Zealand schools are state, state-integrated or independent. Check out our education guide which explains the differences. Many state and state-integrated schools use enrolment zones tied to your home address. If you live inside the zone, your child has the right to attend. The catch for arriving families is that enrolment usually needs a permanent address. You can ask the school how they handle families in temporary accommodation and factor it into how long and where you rent short-term.

Crown can do a school search starting with a pre-arrival assessment of your family’s needs. then an accompanied visit with introductions to suitable schools once you’re in Dunedin. Our guide to moving with kids is also useful for your move.

If you’re’ living in the city centre of Dunedin you can walk to everywhere you need. Buses run frequently most times of the day. Cycling in the flat parts of the city works, but you may want an e-bike up the hills. If you’re living in a hilly suburb or commuting from Mosgiel you can use public transport or car.

If you already own a vehicle in your home country you can talk with the team about shipping your vehicle and see if it is worth the cost of doing so.

Not sure which suburb you will end up in? An orientation tour of the routes and hills will clarify this for you and your car can wait in storage until you’ve decided.

Yes, however New Zealand’s animal import rules are strict. Your pet’s journey has its own timeline of vet checks, permits, and quarantine separate from your container. Start this process early. Generally in Dunedin, properties that allow pets are scarce, so tell your home find consultant before your search for a home starts.

Crown arranges complete pet transport and boarding through vetted specialist partners. We can coordinate this alongside your household move so your dog or cat arrives at the same time as your furniture rather than weeks afterwards. If your house isn’t ready when they arrive, the furniture can wait in storage  while the pet comes home with you.

The number one thing our team hears from new arrivals is how easy it is to get out and about. There’s many places to explore in Dunedin as well as further afield.

The following activities are within an hour’s drive: Larnach Castle, the Royal Albatross Centre (the world’s only mainland breeding colony), yellow-eyed penguins at Sandfly Bay, the sandstone cliffs of Tunnel Beach track, and the glow worms at Nicols Creek. There’s plenty more to do around as well. If you’re into surfing and beaches, Dunedin is also known as New Zealand’s surf capital, with quality surf beaches.

If you’d like to know more about Dunedin with someone who lives here first, an orientation tour covers the suburbs, shops, schools and transport routes in your first days so the city makes sense before you head for the coast on your own.