Home owner or looking to buy?

Buying a Home in Southland

Thinking about buying a home in Southland? Explore how to buy a home in Southland, including real estate listings, house prices, school zones, and support for first home buyers. Here’s what you need to know:

Most banks have a guide to buying your first home.

Home Insurance - For most people, their house is their most valuable asset. As with all types of insurance, you have choices depending on what types of insurance best suit your needs, and how much you are looking to pay for that insurance.

To understand the intersection between what can be covered by the national natural hazard fund if an event was to occur and what requires private insurance, view here.

Environmental Southland Natural Hazards Portal.

Understanding Your Home’s Value

Learn how to check your Southland property’s value, access council valuations, apply for rates rebates, and understand market trends. Southland property values are updated regularly, and there are several ways to check:

Renovating Your Home

Understand Southland’s building consent rules and find advice on when you need a consent before renovating or extending your home. Always consult a building professional or your local council. 

Talk to Your Council First.

Licensed Building Practitioners - Search the LBP register for qualified builders, roofers, architectural designers and other licensed trades across New Zealand. There are seven classes of LBP’s – brick and block laying, carpentry, design, external plastering, foundations, roofing, site and all. Find more information about these here.

Before you start, check whether you need consent and what the process involves:

Making your Home more Energy Efficient

Get practical advice on maintaining your Southland home, from improving energy efficiency to meeting Healthy Homes standards.

There are a range of healthy-home checking tools available:

Tips for a Healthy Homes – The Invercargill City Council has a range of short videos with tips for a healthy home.

Looking for a Bank that does sustainability lending: