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.
The Government is seeking feedback on proposals to enable granny flats up to 60 square metres to be built without needing a building or resource consent. The proposal would create standards under the Resource Management Act and the Building Act that a granny flat could be built to. In the resource management system, it’s proposed this could be via a national environmental standard, creating permitted activity standards for granny flats in residential and rural zones.
Granny flats are already permitted in many district plans across the country but there’s a lack of consistency and different standards across the country. The proposal would enable a consistent approach and support a house size that could cater for a range of households.
Find out more about granny flats here [MBIE].
We want to understand all perspectives on the proposed standards for granny flats.
The consultation covers both building and resource management system questions. You can choose to respond to any section. You can also suggest other ideas.
Submissions are now open and close at 5pm Monday 12 August 2024. You can provide your feedback online [MBIE] or by emailing grannyflats@mbie.govt.nz.