Big plans for tiny campaign

Tiny homes advocates are lobbying councils for the right to have multiple dwellings on one section. Photo / 123RF

By Catherine Smith

Any half-interested watcher of home and renovation television or Pinterest knows the housing trend of the moment is tiny houses.

Tiny houses are defined as houses around 18 to 20sq m, although some measure 35sq m.

Built mostly on wheels, they are billed as the affordable answer to ballooning housing costs.

Not surprisingly, groups around New Zealand are starting to research building their own wee homes. A handful of companies is building petite palaces on wheels.

But how easy it is to get the teeny dream off the drawing boards and legally on to a piece of dirt?

Nathan Orr, a post-grad in sustainability at Waikato University, helped set up the Facebook group Zoned for Tiny. The group wants members to share research on what local authorities allow, and to lobby for change.

One member is in the early stages of assembling a data base of what is allowed in each territorial local authority.

Another, Tauranga-based American Melissa Cox, has been hosting workshops and lobbying local politicians and council planners. Her grassroots movement for housing alternatives for one of the hottest markets outside of Auckland has 500 members.

But tiny houses need some place to settle, and for Cox's group that means lobbying councils for changes to density rules, regulations around rental tenures, even rules around private covenants on development land and infrastructure.

"We want to work with councils, this is not adversarial," says Cox.

Councils are looking at rules, but it is not all good news. Phil Martelli, head of resource management for Western Bay of Plenty District Council, says rules have tightened since 2010, when up to three dwellings (a main house and two minor dwellings) were allowed on a property.

"In medium density areas, where lot sizes can be a maximum of 200sq m, in theory you could fit tiny houses. But some subdivisions have covenants; for medium density you have to have parks, open space and amenity around. And a minor dwelling has to pay financial contributions."

Some tiny housers have taken advantage of city plans that allow mobile accommodation that moves on after three months.

In Thames Coromandel, if property owners want multiple minor units on a lot, they need to apply for a resource consent with an Assessment of Environmental Effects.

In Auckland, tiny houses, even a cluster in an urban area, are not forbidden. Ian Smallburn, Auckland Council's head of resource consents, says that within the bounds of underlying zoning and the usual regulations about site coverage, setbacks and so on, the council is happy to consider such builds on a case by case basis.

"Just as with any other residential configuration, we'd look at the urban design - the amenity, what it does to streetscapes, pedestrian considerations, and so on," he says.

Building manager Ian McCormick says that the minute the tiny house is permanent (for example, with foundations for a deck or hooking into sanitary services), the usual building consent rules apply.

Both recommend bringing tiny house ideas to a pre-application meeting with a planner.

McCormick adds: "We're quite open-minded. It's interesting to see with a bit of innovation what can be achieved."

WHAT THE RULES SAY

MBIE: Anything over 10sq m is considered a building under the Building Act, and needs to meet relevant parts of the Building Code including those for sanitary facilities, food preparation and laundry facilities. The code covers aspects such as structural stability, fire safety, access, moisture control, durability, services and facilities, and energy efficiency. A vehicle/trailer is a building if it is immovable and occupied on a long-term basis.

MINISTRY FOR ENVIRONMENT: Whether tiny homes are permitted in an area depends on the zoning and the definition of a 'dwelling', and how the relevant rules within the council's plan are interpreted. If there are no rules preventing a tiny home being built, people can apply for resource consent. There is no existing regulation under the RMA that restricts dwelling sizes, but some councils do have rules on minimum dwelling sizes in their plans.

NZTA: If you modified a vehicle to build a motorhome, it will probably need specialist certification. The maximum width is 2.55m and the maximum height is 4.3m. If the motorhome will be towing, its length is limited to 11.5m, otherwise it can be up to 12.6m long. Houses on axles need a separate permit for travel on highways.