Mystery as entire derelict house dumped on commercial site

New Zealand developers are searching for answers after an entire graffiti-covered house mysteriously appeared overnight at a vacant commercial site.

The house was dumped on the Takanini site, which is earmarked for development as a new retail centre, overnight on November 18 or 19.

And, bizarrely, no one knows how it got there or who put it there.

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Newshub reports the south Auckland site is to become a new retail centre, with construction due to begin early next year, but the development will now be pushed back in order to remove the house.

The developer estimates it will cost between $20,000 and $30,000 to demolish the building.

Northbridge Properties project development manager Rod Bray says the cost for the previous owners to move the entire house would likely have been cheaper than demolishing it.

“The house is derelict. It’s not really worth anything; it has no salvage value,” he told Newshub.

“When a house is in that kind of condition, the only thing to do is to demolish it.”

“The options are either pay to have it demolished, or you dump it somewhere else and make it someone else’s problem.”

The developer is offering a $1000 reward for information leading to the identification of the people who illegally dumped the house, and has also vowed not to press charges if the offenders come forward and remove the house.