Plans to cut back paperwork, costs and rules for people building granny flats have been welcomed as a way to reduce homelessness — but concerns are being raised about quality control.
Under the proposals, single-storey buildings sized up to 60 square metres would not need resource and building consents, nor engineering reports, if they met certain criteria — including plumbing connections and building code compliance.
These buildings have been used all over the country for fast and more affordable shelter — for example, in the Far North, where they have housed people needing homes after prison, people needing urgent accommodation to move onto whānau land when relocating from cities, and also to help inter generational families care for elders.
"They don't want to put the kuia or kaumātua into a home... They want to keep them in the family unit but to offer them some independence," Te Hau Ora Ō Ngāpuhi chief executive Tia Ashby (Te Rarawa, Ngāpuhi, Te Aupouri, Te Ati Awa) told 1News.
She supported plans to simplify the building process.
"I think that this change is going to be a game changer... For many families, it means they're no longer going to be burdened by multitudes of paperwork and actually it's going to save them a lot of money."
But she said it was vital the changes did not compromise quality and safety of the builds.
"You must always keep the health and wellbeing of the residents at the top of your mind."
Hikurangi Enterprises in Gisborne has been constructing granny flats in Tairāwhiti — completing 80 in the past three years.
Executive director Panapa Ehau (Ngāti Uepohatu, Ngāti Porou) told 1News the process of getting consent and sign-off was often as long as the process of constructing the buildings.
He expected the proposals would be, "a positive — we can see that it will increase housing supply and reduce time and costs".
"What we really don't want to see is a wave of substandard buildings coming through though," he said.
Among those benefiting from Hikurangi Enterprises' builds were people who lost accommodation in Cyclone Gabrielle.
The buildings have also been a more affordable option for families, to prevent overcrowding and homelessness on the East Coast.
"Home ownership has just got out of reach for more and more people," he said.
Current rules 'time-consuming, stressful, overwhelming'
For Wellsford property owner Adele Ball, building a granny flat on her front yard was meant to be a speedy, simple, housing solution.
But she told 1News that under the current rules: "Instead, this process has been time-consuming, stressful, overwhelming — it's been a real burden."
Unexpected engineering and building works have led to costs "blowing out" and she said the government's plans to simplify rules were overdue.
"Definitely, we could have saved a lot financially."
Architect Sarosh Mulla said the Government's plans were "a very very high trust model" — especially without engineering reports.
"There isn't really a control or a check... and so you have the potential for some things to go awry."
But Auckland business Tiny Home HQ was optimistic about compliance among tiny home construction companies.
Managing director Matt Armstrong said it was possible "we can do things more efficiently but achieve the same result", and that the Government was acknowledging this.
But he agreed some members of the public would have reservations about quality control, particularly if they had had bad experiences with tradies in the past.
"Some of it may be due to poor quality builds that unlicensed builders have done or where people have not followed regulations and that's a sad situation for sure."
The national consultation process for granny flat rule changes ends on August 12.
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