Tiny House

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#1066884 16-Jun-2014 18:28

And typical MSM no mention of his youtube channel - https://www.youtube.com/user/livingbigtinyhouse

Richard rich.ms

kiwirock

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#1066956 16-Jun-2014 19:31

Fred99:

There are exemptions from building consent laws to allow for "sleepouts" etc, but one of the main limitations is that if there are sanitary fittings or "kitchen", then it becomes a "dwelling" and consent is required.

Having a "tiny house" on wheels gets around this problem short term. Longer term then I expect councils will enact legislation (if they don't already have it) to prevent people living in unconsented "tiny houses" anywhere except a caravan park.

So you make them with a holding tank in between.

Not much different than a caravan being used to sleep in on private property. Never seen the council complain against those with a caravan in their driveway used by a teenager.

So you tow it an inch in another direction each week. That makes it still temporary.

I doubt they'll change the rules until some idiot builds one with a heavy roof held together by electrical tape. In other words until someone hurts themselves and we impose a law on the many for the idiot few.

kiwirock

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#1066957 16-Jun-2014 19:32

There's no better earthquake proofing than suspension I would imagine too.

richms

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#1066958 16-Jun-2014 19:33

I was told you have to take the caravan off site occasionally, and it has to be able to be removed from site with no modifications. So things like fencing them in or having an awening over it that makes it hard to move, or lifting it up on blocks is a no-go.

Richard rich.ms

kiwirock

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#1066964 16-Jun-2014 19:38

I would imagine enforcing it takes resources they don't want to spend anyway. It'll only be if someone complains about an eye sore or something happens that limits the councils liability towards safety for its rate payers etc...

richms

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#1066967 16-Jun-2014 19:40

Yeah, but you get busybody neighbours that like to complain about things and then you have problems.

IMO the council needs to butt out of what people do on their own property.

Never have had any fallout from when I refused to let them in to look at my door locks on the doors out to the pool so thats a good start at keeping them out of my business.

Richard rich.ms

alasta

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#1067000 16-Jun-2014 20:41

This would suit my circumstances quite well although I wonder about the cost of leasing land for it, and I would probably want to lease a small self storage unit for my junk that I can't bring myself to throw away.

There was a fascinating article in The Listener a couple of years ago about the trend in western countries towards people preferring to live alone, so the housing stock is going to have to somehow adapt to that.

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tripp

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#1067249 17-Jun-2014 08:01

I would love one of those, just me and the cat.

However i would also want good internet with a high cap and being able to work remotely would help as well :)

PhantomNVD

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#1067283 17-Jun-2014 10:28

mrtoken: I would love one of those, just me and the cat.

However i would also want good internet with a high cap and being able to work remotely would help as well :)

Anyone know the rules on having a permanent shed (say below the 10 sq/m 'unconsenting' size) to house all the 'permanent' fixtures (like your power/water/phone/internet linkup right next to a 'tiny house'/caravan + container on an otherwise empty piece of land?

I'd like the option of using this for 3-6 months while building my new house on the 2 acre plot we have already bought, and save on double moving (using a decent spec 20 foot container for storage) and use the rent saved to effectively pay for the 'temporary' sleeping accomodation which would later make a great sleepout/granny flat :)

basically, as the council will be visiting constantly to check on the building specs being follower, would they care (Tuakau/waikato) that I had a 'temporary' way to live there while this is happening?

I would obviously then have to prioritize the driveway access and be able to get services linked ASAP to a 'distribution hub' (AKA Shed) while the timer ticks on my unconditional house sale and be able move straight across?

wellygary

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#1067295 17-Jun-2014 10:47

PhantomNVD:
mrtoken: I would love one of those, just me and the cat.

However i would also want good internet with a high cap and being able to work remotely would help as well :)

Anyone know the rules on having a permanent shed (say below the 10 sq/m 'unconsenting' size) to house all the 'permanent' fixtures (like your power/water/phone/internet linkup right next to a 'tiny house'/caravan + container on an otherwise empty piece of land?

I'd like the option of using this for 3-6 months while building my new house on the 2 acre plot we have already bought, and save on double moving (using a decent spec 20 foot container for storage) and use the rent saved to effectively pay for the 'temporary' sleeping accomodation which would later make a great sleepout/granny flat :)

basically, as the council will be visiting constantly to check on the building specs being follower, would they care (Tuakau/waikato) that I had a 'temporary' way to live there while this is happening?

I would obviously then have to prioritize the driveway access and be able to get services linked ASAP to a 'distribution hub' (AKA Shed) while the timer ticks on my unconditional house sale and be able move straight across?

The 2 biggest issues will be water and wastewater, ring your local council and ask them what there rules are

Power is often run to a building site and terminated in a "temporary" shed, for the builders, often called a "builders temporary"

phone and internet are fairly easy to move later on,

Make sure your caravan/tiny house is easily detachable from this permanent shed, because if it is not then the council will be able to class it as a structure, and you descent into bureaucracy will have begun..

TwoSeven

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#1067312 17-Jun-2014 11:01

wellygary: The fact that every one of the "Tiny houses" I have seen in NZ has been built as a Caravan (ie has wheels), is a damning endictment on the planning laws and council beuracracy that has pushed up the cost of housing.

This type of house would not exist in NZ if it was built on a regular foundation ( and was thus liable for building permits, consents and everyother council charge under the sun)

A tiny house is built on a special trailer because it makes use of the caravan laws - its not a permanent fixed dwelling. A tiny home, is a small house that has fixed foundations, but is cheaper than a house being a lightweight structure.

As far as I am aware, people still tend to build the trailer houses to the building code.

I've been following the concept for some time and have done a few scale models. The biggest issue for me is in the design of the trailer.

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sdav

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#1067336 17-Jun-2014 11:24

I saved the "Tiny House" on Netflix last night too. Will watch it tonight I think.

This is pretty much the idea behind what we are doing. We have a decent amount of land so in summer the focus will be outdoor living and in winter.... small and "cozy" haha. It's all how you look at things and what your priorities are - and everyone is different. Some people can't deal with small houses and that's ok. I like something smaller and manageable (since the land is big enough to manage) and I am spending more on the house materials than most people would because its smaller.

One thing that I find annoying (and again this does not bother me because its someone else's choice) is houses built boundary to boundary. I just don't see the attraction in large houses with no or a very small outdoor area. To me that just seems driving by developers trying to squeeze as many houses in to a subdivision as possible - but then, why wouldn't they!

ubergeeknz

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#1067354 17-Jun-2014 11:49

PhantomNVD:
mrtoken: I would love one of those, just me and the cat.

However i would also want good internet with a high cap and being able to work remotely would help as well :)

Anyone know the rules on having a permanent shed (say below the 10 sq/m 'unconsenting' size) to house all the 'permanent' fixtures (like your power/water/phone/internet linkup right next to a 'tiny house'/caravan + container on an otherwise empty piece of land?

I'd like the option of using this for 3-6 months while building my new house on the 2 acre plot we have already bought, and save on double moving (using a decent spec 20 foot container for storage) and use the rent saved to effectively pay for the 'temporary' sleeping accomodation which would later make a great sleepout/granny flat :)

basically, as the council will be visiting constantly to check on the building specs being follower, would they care (Tuakau/waikato) that I had a 'temporary' way to live there while this is happening?

I would obviously then have to prioritize the driveway access and be able to get services linked ASAP to a 'distribution hub' (AKA Shed) while the timer ticks on my unconditional house sale and be able move straight across?

So my very basic understanding of the building code here is that the minute you add plumbing, something becomes a "dwelling". So you'd have to watch for that.

I get the impression that most tiny housers don't care much for the rules and regs. I guess if you get "busted" you just up and move your house.

toyonut

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#1067393 17-Jun-2014 12:35

Love the idea of them. Something small and nicely fitted out to make use of the space with sleeping quarters up on a mezzanine. Think the container homes are great too and can make great use of space. Although off topic, I really like the earthship homes too. Nicely built, relatively cheap, economical to heat and own, natural materials. Probably expensive to build if you can't do the labour yourself though.

Try Vultr using this link and get us both some credit:

http://www.vultr.com/?ref=7033587-3B

graemeh

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#1067407 17-Jun-2014 13:07

PhantomNVD: Anyone know the rules on having a permanent shed (say below the 10 sq/m 'unconsenting' size) to house all the 'permanent' fixtures (like your power/water/phone/internet linkup right next to a 'tiny house'/caravan + container on an otherwise empty piece of land?

I'd like the option of using this for 3-6 months while building my new house on the 2 acre plot we have already bought, and save on double moving (using a decent spec 20 foot container for storage) and use the rent saved to effectively pay for the 'temporary' sleeping accomodation which would later make a great sleepout/granny flat :)

My parents did something along those lines in Tauranga.

They got a permit for and built a "shed with facilities". It was basically a one bedroom house/car port but legally it was a shed that had shower, toilet and kitchen. They lived in it for years and I'm not sure if they ever built a "house" on the site.

This was on a lifestyle block so I don't if the rules are different.

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