The New Zealand Government is prioritizing the increase of affordable housing options to address the current housing crisis and ensure that more New Zealanders have access to quality homes. As part of this initiative, the Government is proposing significant changes to make it easier for property owners to build small, self-contained, detached dwellings—commonly referred to as ‘granny flats’—on properties that already have an existing primary residence.

These proposed changes aim to simplify the construction process for granny flats by removing the need for building and resource consents under certain conditions, provided the dwellings meet specific criteria. The Government is particularly focused on making it easier for homeowners to add these secondary dwellings, which can serve a range of purposes, from housing elderly relatives or adult children to being used as rental units that generate additional income for property owners.

One of the key proposals under consideration is allowing the construction of granny flats up to 60 square metres in size without the need for a formal building consent, provided they comply with essential safety, zoning, and environmental regulations. The aim is to remove barriers for homeowners looking to create additional living space, making the process quicker, more affordable, and less bureaucratic.

The Government is actively seeking public feedback on this proposal, particularly in regard to the size and scope of the granny flats, and the specific criteria that would need to be met to ensure safety, compliance with local building standards, and minimal impact on neighboring properties. This includes considerations such as height limits, boundary setbacks, and infrastructure requirements like water and electricity connections.

By reducing the red tape associated with building secondary dwellings, the Government hopes to increase housing supply, provide more flexibility for property owners, and help ease the pressure on the housing market. These changes could make it easier for families to live together on a single property while still maintaining independence, and also provide a viable solution for creating affordable rental housing in areas experiencing high demand.

The feedback gathered during this consultation period will help shape the final regulations, ensuring that the new policies strike a balance between promoting affordable housing options and maintaining the integrity of urban and suburban environments. If successfully implemented, these changes will make it far more straightforward for homeowners across New Zealand to contribute to the overall housing supply by building granny flats, ultimately supporting the Government’s broader goal of increasing housing affordability and availability throughout the country.

Property owners and other stakeholders are encouraged to provide input on how best to implement these changes while maintaining the high standards of New Zealand’s building codes. This consultation represents a significant opportunity for New Zealanders to influence the future of housing development in the country and to ensure that the needs of both homeowners and the wider community are met.

Why Choose Our Granny Flats

A granny flat offers a versatile living space that caters to various needs, from independent accommodation for elderly family members to a guest suite or even a rental opportunity. Designed for comfort and practicality, our expertly crafted granny flats are built with high-quality materials and feature modern amenities to provide a cozy, functional home within your property.

Key Features

Customizable Designs: Tailor the layout to suit your specific needs, whether it’s for a growing famlily, extra rental income, or a private space for elderly relatives.

Energy- Efficient Solutions: Our granny flats are equipped with energy-saving technologies to reduce your carbon footprint and lower utility bills.

Seamless Integration: Built to blend effortlessly with your existing property, our designs ensure that your granny flat complements the asthetic of your home.

Low Maintenance: Constructed with durable, long-lasting materials, our granny flats are easy to maintain and built to withstand the best of time.

Benefits of Adding a Granny Flat

Increase Property Value: A well- designed granny flat can significantly enhance the value of your property, offering both increased living space and potential rental income.

Independent Living For Family: Provide your loved ones with a comfortable, private space while keeping them close by.

Rental Income Potential: Turn your granny flat into an income-generating asset by renting it out to tenants, creating a steadt revenue steram.

Flexible Living Solutions: Whether it’s for family, guests, or as a long-term investment, a granny flat adds unmatched versatility to your home.

Building Regulation In New Zealand In 2025

The Government is focussed on increasing the supply of affordable homes for New Zealanders. As part of this, the Government is proposing to make it easier to build small, self-contained and detached houses, commonly known as ‘granny flats’ on property with an existing home on it.

We are seeking feedback on options to enable granny flats up to 60 square metres in size, to be built without needing a building or resource consent, so long as they meet certain criteria.

The criteria granny flats must meet under the proposed exemption will form the checks and balances required to ensure they meet building performance and quality requirements, and appropriately manage environmental effects.

Finding the balance between speed, safety, and risk to ensure New Zealanders have safe, healthy and durable homes, built as quickly as possible, is important. This is why we want to understand all perspectives on potential costs, benefits and risks for the criteria we are proposing that granny flats and small homes will need to meet.

We want to hear from as many people as possible, including:

• those thinking about building a granny flat on their property
• those wanting to live in a granny flat
• builders and tradespeople
• mortgage lenders and property insurance providers
• those responsible for building control, district planning and infrastructure development.

The consultation covers both building and resource management system questions; you can choose to respond to any sections – you do not have to complete them all. You can also suggest other ideas and things to consider.

If you have received more than 1 invitation to participate in this consultation, we apologise. You only need to complete 1 submission.

What we are proposing

To make it easier to build granny flats and increase the supply of affordable homes for all New Zealanders. This consultation looks at two key pieces of legislation that set out the rules for residential building, the Building Act (2004) and the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA).

Building Act

The Building Act sets out the rules for the construction, alteration and demolition of buildings. Regardless of whether building work is exempt from a building consent or not, all building work must comply with the New Zealand Building Code.

The building system proposals in this consultation include:

• establishing a new schedule in the Building Act providing a building consent exemption for simple standalone houses up to 60 square metres in size
• the conditions and criteria for these homes to be exempt from a building consent
• assessment of the associated short and long-term benefits, costs and risks
• sufficiency of occupational licensing requirements to ensure all building work will meet the Building Code
• potential barriers to the uptake of the proposed exemption
• time and money savings compared to the status quo
• additional or alternative ideas to the proposed options.

Initially, it was suggested that an engineer’s report may be required for granny flats built without needing to undergo the building consent process. However, this could introduce new engineering services and additional costs. Instead, we are proposing that all work is conducted or supervised by competent professionals under current occupational licensing requirements to ensure all building work will meet the Building Code.

Resource Management Act

Many district plans already allow granny flats without resource consent, but there’s a lack of consistency and different standards across the country.

A national environmental standard (NES) would need to be created to permit a granny flat on sites in rural and residential zones without resource consent. An NES means changes can come into force quickly.

The NES would apply in rural and residential zones where it is anticipated most granny flats will be built. We want to know whether people think the NES should apply to other areas too, such as mixed-use zones where there’s a mixture of residential, commercial and light industrial buildings.

While the proposed changes would make it easier to build granny flats, changes must be balanced against existing issues, including managing flood risks. Certain district plan rules will still need to apply. 

A set of permitted activity standards are proposed to cover aspects such as the size, how much of a property can be covered by buildings and how close a granny flat can be to a neighbouring property boundary.