A step closer to affordable housing?

The New Zealand government’s proposal to streamline the process of building granny flats is a significant step towards addressing the nation’s housing crisis. Potential changes in 2025 could make it easier for homeowners to add a secondary dwelling to their property with the government proposing a more affordable and flexible housing option.

At Branderson Homes, we’re thrilled by the proposal. This initiative, driven by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, seeks to simplify the consent process and allow for the construction of secondary dwellings up to 60 sq/m, reducing the red tape that has historically made such projects challenging.

The government has recognised the growing need for affordable, stand-alone minor dwellings. This means that a family member, or others, can be comfortably housed in an affordable build or that the rate of return on the investment is very attractive.

This makes perfect sense as the land is effectively free and therefore the overall cost of the project is for the house itself and its connections to services only.

Currently, the process of adding a granny flat involves navigating complex regulations under the Building Act 2004 and the Resource Management Act 1991, along with varying Town Planning Rules from different councils. These rules, while intended to ensure the safety and quality of the build, often lead to frustration due to their complexity and inconsistent application across regions.

What will this mean for you?

Making it easier to build granny flats will make it more affordable for families to change the way they live, adopting intergenerational living which is seeing a rapid growth in popularity over the last decade.

New dwellings built under the 60 sq/m threshold would not require building consent. The build would still have to comply with the building code and other criteria including that all construction work must still be conducted or supervised by competent professionals under current occupational licencing requirements.

Branderson Homes has presented a submission to the government on this initiative and our position is that if the project meets the rules, doesn’t adversely affect anyone and the home itself is to be built by a certified tradesman, then the project should be allowed to happen – the advantages of this type of accommodation are just too good to ignore.

Our only suggestion for change is that the granny flat size should be raised to 70 sq/m as we know that 60 sq/m can be a bit tight for long-term living.

At Branderson Homes we have vast experience building transportable homes like our Lyttleton plan, a two-bedroom home with separate laundry and bathroom. This is the perfect ‘granny flat’ and is built in factory conditions and transported to sites across New Zealand.

If you have questions about how you could make the most of the potential changes being proposed by the government, we’re here to help. Pick up the phone, give us a call.