Tiny Homes

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kingdragonfly

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#238240 8-Jul-2018 14:01

Not sure if this post should go under the forum "Transport" or "Home workshop"

A friend told me about this "tiny home" manufacturer in New Zealand.

https://www.buildtiny.co.nz/

From buildtiny:"we make road-registered Tiny-Homes-on-wheels from our workshop in Katikati, New Zealand, and deliver nationwide.

Sold as complete turn-key build’s or empty shells ready for DIY fit-out."

I've drawn up my own tiny home plans, but I can't even find a suitable urban tiny plot for my future tiny home.

wellygary

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#2051509 8-Jul-2018 14:38

but I can't even find a suitable urban tiny plot for my future tiny home.

And It unlikely you ever will find an urban space where you can use this as a "dwelling" , ( save sticking them on the back of someone else's section)

They are bullt as Caravans, and as soon as they lose the ability to move and you are living in it, the local council will stick you with a whole bunch of non-complicance notifications....

Scott3

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#2051611 8-Jul-2018 17:56

My understanding is that in the USA, tiny homes worked, because they bypasses restrictive planning laws in some areas.

In NZ, it doesn't seem clear that simply putting wheels under a dwelling means you can bypass planning laws. (although people in the industry seem to disagree i.e. https://www.tinyhousenz.co.nz/legalities). To me outcomes of cases like "Thames-Coromandel District Council v Te Puru Holiday Park Limited" make it pretty clear that most tiny homes are accessory dwellings, and need to go through normal council processes. Even if you take a different view to me, putting cira $100k on the line for something with such uncertainty dosn't sit well with me.

If we are going through proper council processes, one might as well avoid the cost of putting the dwelling on wheels, and avoid being restricted to the maximum (non oversize) road dimensions. Of course the latter will likely make the house a "small house" rather than tiny.

Anouther point of note is that NZ has (in desirable areas anyway) very high land prices, and a lot of restrictive planning laws (street setback, boundary shading, minimum lot sizes etc.). The effect of these planning laws means that development of large houses has been strongly incentive's in many areas. As an example, if the area you want to live in has a minimum lot size of X square meters, and a max of 1 dwelling per lot, the land be well underutilized if the developer builds a 50m^2 house on it. hence why you see most new builds in urban areas have a large building floor area. You are not allowed to build this anymore:

http://www.heritage.org.nz/content/images/register/7010a_lg.jpg?w=622&h=350&scale=both

A pity as that style of housing seem popular.

Sadly these planning laws have worked to lower our urban density, and drive housing prices up, both bad from my point of view.