‘Granny flats’ – do I need a Building Consent?
You may be aware of the Government’s proposal to enable people to build ‘granny flats’ (small, self-contained, detached homes) up to 70sqm in size without a building or resource consent.
The Government sought feedback on the proposal in June-August 2024 and is currently assessing this feedback to see what any changes might look like.
In May 2025, The Building and Construction (Small Standalone Dwellings) Bill received its first reading in Parliament and is expected to be passed by the end of the year.
The Bill will exempt granny flats of up to 70 square metres from needing a building consent if it’s a simple design, meets the Building Code and built by authorised building professionals.
In the meantime, a building consent is still needed for self-contained, detached buildings larger than 30sqm.
In addition, if you are looking to construct a building up to 30sqm in size, there are still rules that you need to follow, which can be found in Schedule 1 of the Building Act 2004.
Below are some things to note:
- The largest you can go is 30sqm
- It must be its own height off the boundary and any other building
- It must be associated with a main dwelling
- It can’t have its own plumbing or drainage
- There are also rules in the District Plan that you may need to consider. Please contact our Resource Consents team to discuss if these might be relevant to you.
Find out more about the Government’s ‘Making it easier to build granny flats’ proposal here.
