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Waiting on consent has always been the slowest part of building a home in New Zealand. Plans are done, the client is ready, the factory has a slot, and everyone waits on paperwork.Here's what changed, what it means for your project, and the one step we now recommend every Manor Build client takes first.
The average new home consented in New Zealand fell from 198.0m² in the year to January 2013 to 139.7m² in the year to January 2024, a drop of almost 30%. Buyers are signalling they are comfortable with it. New Cotality research published on 25/09/2026 found that 59% of New Zealand buyers are open to buying a smaller home to improve affordability.
A granny flat under 70m² still has to work for the site it's going on and the people living in it. And while qualifying granny flats can now be built without a building consent, that does not mean every site or every design automatically qualifies.
If you are looking at adding a smaller home to your property, you may be comparing a tiny home with a transportable home. At first glance, they can look like similar products. Both can be built off-site. Both can be transported to a property. Both can provide an alternative to building a conventional home from scratch on site. But they are designed around very different constraints.
Transportable home costs can be more predictable than site-built — if the site-specific 25% (foundations, services, consents) is priced before you sign, not during the build.
For many homeowners, subdivision may no longer be the only path to adding a second home on their land.
Transportable homes usually feel far more spacious in person than they do on paper. If you’re unsure, the quickest way to know is to walk through a show home.
Manor Build shares what we learned completing a consent‑exempt granny flat under NZ’s new 70m² rules (from 15 Jan 2026) — including real-world time/cost savings, the design details that make or break compliance, and our inspection process and client report for confidence.
Learn how New Zealand’s new 2026 granny flat rules let you build a 70m² minor dwelling without building or resource consent, and where limits apply.
Explore the most popular roof styles for New Zealand homes and learn which is right for you.
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