Around 25 homes were on the floor of the House Me tiny home factory, Takanini. on July 2, 2024. Photo / Michael Craig
Around 25 homes were on the floor of the House Me tiny home factory, Takanini. on July 2, 2024. Photo / Michael Craig
National transportable tiny home building business House Me, whose places start from $49,500, has dropped prices after striking new deals with suppliers ready for the Government to end resource consents for small homes and favour landlords.
Bryce Glover, national sales and marketing manager of New Zealand’sfifth busiest house builder, said that from June 25, most prices on most places had dropped.
The price of the most popular two-bedroom 42.8sq m home fell from $138,000 to $125,000.
Three-bedroom home prices dropped from $169,000 to $145,000 “and that’s mainly because we renegotiated some supply terms. The market is tough,” he said.
Bryce Glover, inside one of the show homes at the headquarters of House Me, Takanini. Photo / Michael Craig
Prices do not include land, transport to the site or service provisions but most homes are fitted with complete bathroom and kitchen, even curtains and blinds.
House Me describes itself as “affordable, transportable, reliable” and said it had delivered homes to more than 5000 customers. It is fully Kiwi-owned and operated, has been trading since 2007, its homes are code-compliant, it offers national delivery and eight to 10-week lead times.
Glover said the only holdups were usually on the clients’ behalf, securing council consents or works to the site.
But he expects that to change after the Government granny flat changes released last month.
The Takanini-headquartered business has 25 new homes under construction in a three-year-old 5500sq m factory. A second older 13,000sq m factory and storage building is at the leased premises. The build time per home is three weeks from start to finish, with a general lead time of eight to 10 weeks from deposit to delivery.
When the Herald visited on Tuesday, 12 homes were in the front yard, awaiting delivery once customers said they were ready.
House Me has just struck a deal to open a Christchurch showroom in the fast-growing southwest Wigram area and Glover said tenancy law changes might mean more investors buy to rent.
Data business BCI listed House Me as New Zealand’s fifth busiest builder in the March year, following GJ Gardner, Fletcher Residential, Mike Greer Homes and Signature Homes.
“We’re the Toyota Corolla of the market,” Glover said of the business whose corporate entity is Compact Homes.
He is delighted about the Government changes announced on June 18 barring councils from demanding resource consents for 60sq m homes and is awaiting that change with great interest.
Around 25 homes were on the floor of the House Me tiny home factory, Takanini. on July 2, 2024. Photo / Michael Craig
House Me has also started its own rental division, with around 250 North Island residences lived in by tenants.
Glover said around 400 homes would be built this calendar year and demand was coming from cash-buyer parents, down-sizing from a house “they said is too big for them”, buying a House Me place for land their offspring own and relocating.
Divorcees wanting to start again but with less money as well as the “boomerang generation realising they were locked out of the housing market” and using their parents’ land for a House Me home were also customers.
Inside the welding dock at House Me, Takanini. Photo / Michael Craig
House Me is also about to begin marketing a special one-bedroom 52.5sq m wheelchair-friendly disability or mobility unit, selling for $159,000. The kitchen has been modified with lower-height units and spaces under sinks and bench areas for a wheelchair to fit as well as a pull-out pantry. The bedroom has open storage units and the shower is designed for a wheelchair.
“A lot of organisations are looking for something like this,” Glover said.
Around 120 people work in the factory on a site the size of three rugby fields or 2.3ha.
House Me has also opened a new finance division, Finance Me, which Glover said was charging around 13.5% interest on loans. Payment for the houses must be made 10 days before delivery.
That has caused problems with other off-site manufacturers where clients were caught between paying in full for homes and liquidators seizing control of all home components, regardless of completion stages, due to their responsibility to act in the best interests of all creditors and maximise returns.
Auckland-based modular housing business FirstBuild Homes’ insolvency last year hit 11 clients who signed up for affordable new places. Contracts on the affordable homes were at various stages and the insolvency enranged some clients who said components were built and they wanted them out of the factory so homes could be finished.
Glover said he was aware of sector difficulties including one $50m+ modular house failure lately but House Me was in a different situation, trading strongly, able to deliver on time and budget, not engaging in the high-rise market but stand-alone homes which was a much more straightforward market with faster timeframes.
He is a part owner and said although Fieldays yielded few sales this year, many other exhibitors said much the same.
For Glover and House Me, the market is rising and he’s about to capitalise on resource consent and tenancy changes which are hugely in his favour.
Anne Gibson has been the Herald’s property editor for 24 years, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.
