Chris Bishop: Housing Minister on the government's plan to make it easier to build granny flats

The Government’s proposing changes to the Resource Management Act and the Building Act – to help make it easier to build granny flats.  

This follows a commitment in the National-NZ First coalition agreement, which requires the government to " Make it easier to build granny flats or other small structures up to 60 square metres, requiring only an engineer's report". 

Housing Minister Chris Bishop told Heather du Plessis-Allan “I think it’s going to appeal to a lot of different people – it's about housing supply.” 

Bishop said “These are structures designed to get more people into warm, dry houses.” 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Heather Do for Sel.

Speaker 2 (00:01):
The government's announced it's making it easier to build a
granny flat by changing the rules so any structure up
to sixty square meters will not need consent. The government
is beginning consultation today with the aim to have the
law changed by midnext year. Christ Bishop as the Housing
Minister high bish Hello, is there a big demand for this?

Speaker 1 (00:18):
I think there's going to be a massive demand. I
get people probably emailing at me every but I don't know,
at least every month or so saying how do we
make it easiest to build a small granny flat out
the back of my property. I want to do it.
I want to put grand grandma or granddad or you know,
you've got families with teenage daughters at the back, university kids,
you know. I think it's going to appeal to a
lot of different people, and it's about housing and supply. Fundamentally,

(00:41):
our problems are we don't have enough houses and you know,
smaller properties sixty square meters them below that they can
be part of solution.

Speaker 2 (00:48):
And what about the land that they're plunked onto. Is
there a requirement for how big that has to be
out in the backyard?

Speaker 1 (00:53):
Yeah, the discussion document's got some some proposals in there
around site coverage where we're consulting on sixty seventy, et cetera.
But the key point is that once we get the
finer details worked out, you won't need a resource consent
and you won't need a building consent as long as

(01:13):
you can buy off the building code and you need
a license and you've got a licensed building practitioner doing
the building.

Speaker 2 (01:18):
Somebody text in earlier and said it will still need
some sort of consent because you've got to consent the bathroom.
Is that true.

Speaker 1 (01:24):
No, you won't need a building consent for the bathroom.
As long as you comply with the rules around complying
with the building code and getting a license building practitioners
and supervisor work or do the work, you will have
an exemption from the Building Act. We're going to change
the water allow that to take place.

Speaker 2 (01:41):
Is there any limit on how many of these granny
flats you can build on one property?

Speaker 1 (01:45):
Yes, just one's all one, So this is not a
free for all where you can put five out the back.
Those are the different rules regarding that this is just
about a small or sixty square meter or below structure
out the back of your property or on your property.
You won't need a resource consent there for really the
world and some councils, it's just not consistent across the country.

(02:05):
So we'll be making it mandatory and required across the
count across the country for both rural and residential councils.
And then once we change the Building Act, you won't
need a building consent either.

Speaker 2 (02:16):
Do you imagine that there's going to be a bit
of blowback from neighbors who maybe don't want this kind
of density.

Speaker 1 (02:22):
Well, I hope not to be honest. I mean, we're
talking about single story, quite small dwellings here that you
don't really have an impact on anybody. These are these
are structures designed to get more people in warm, dry
houses and that's fundamentally what New zeal needs more of
and so that's what we're doing today.

Speaker 2 (02:40):
Thank you so much for your time, Chris really appreciated
Chris Bishop, the Housing Minister. For more from Hither Duplessy
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