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Housing affordability and desire for a movable home among the reasons growing numbers are opting for petite dwellings across New Zealand
Two years ago, when New Zealand school teacher Liberty Van Voorthuysen was looking for a much-needed break from teaching, she ditched her classroom and signed up for a free construction course. Van Voorthuysen had set herself a fairly low bar: learn how to use power tools. But she left with much more – the skills to build her own tiny home.
The 34-year-old bought the shell of a small house, parked it in a Nelson paddock at the top of the South Island, installed solar panels and added a composting toilet. The dwelling measures 6m x 2.4m and is 4m tall. The space took a bit of getting used to and the outdoor shower is “pretty gnarly in winter,” Van Voorthuysen says. But she has learned to be resourceful.
“It’s opened up a whole world of barbecue baking. I baked a pretty amazing carrot cake,” she says.
Van Voorthuysen is one of a growing number of New Zealanders choosing to downsize their lives with tiny homes – small, fully functional dwellings with a floor area of up to 60 square metres.
Some cite environmental reasons for living with a smaller footprint, but many have made the shift for affordability reasons. New Zealand has long been plagued with one of the least affordable housing markets in the world. While recent figures show housing affordability has improved slightly since 2022, the median house value is still 7.7 times the median household income.
Expensive construction costs, and regulatory red-tape have added to the woes of would-be homeowners’ looking to build, rather than buy. The average house price is NZ$900,000 but tiny homes can cost a fraction of that – between roughly NZ$50,000 and $200,000.
The tiny home movement is growing in other places including the US, Europe and Australia. In New Zealand, Sharla May, director of Tiny House Hub – a network connecting builders and buyers of micro-homes – estimates there are “tens of thousands of tiny homes” across the country. May works with about 300 builders and says some of those build 60 homes each quarter. She also runs an annual Tiny House Expo – five years ago, 350 people were at the event but last year, more than 10,000 people attended.
May says the market is dominated by older buyers who tend to have money from a divorce or existing land.
Among them is 60-year-old Kate Rowntree, who describes living alone in her tiny home in Hawke’s Bay as “bliss”. She first looked into micro-home living after returning from overseas with her husband, but they decided it would be too small for them. When they separated, Rowntree decided to give it a go.
“It was the right size for one and more practical in terms of affordability,” she says. The home measures just 7 x 3 metres. It’s 20m2 on the bottom level, with a sleeping loft 3 x 3m. Rowntree has lived there for four years – she bought it from its maker, who had lived in it with his family of five.
She also likes the ability to move her home and has done so twice. It took careful planning, and Rowntree had to hire a crane to lift it on to a truck and unload it at the destination.
“The thought of living in a bigger space seems weird now. I find it hard to understand people without large families building such huge properties, it seems so wasteful.”
Adrian Ashdown, 48, also shifted to tiny home living after divorce. He wanted to continue living near his daughter so with the help of a builder friend, he built a tiny house a minute’s walk from the old family home, north of Auckland.
It cost about $70,000 to build in 2019, but he estimates a similar home would cost more than double that now, as the price of building materials has jumped.
Ashdown is happy with the home but does say one drawback is “that my lounge area is also my work space and my creative space when I make music.”
Regina Speer also points to some of the challenges on tiny living – including getting used to a composting toilet.
“If I’m completely honest, it sometimes gives me anxiety when I get visitors.”
Speer went from flatting with friends in Christchurch, to moving alone into her own tiny home in 2023. The 39-year-old rented a tiny home before designing her own, to make sure the lifestyle worked for her. She wanted an affordable and environmentally-friendly housing option and was attracted to the idea of being able to change locations.
“I can pack up and get the house out of the danger zone in case of flooding or a wildfire,” she says, and has moved the property twice.
Measuring 3m wide, 6.8m long and 4.2m high, Speer’s home is tucked away on a block west of Christchurch. She is happy with the money saved and “the good feeling of doing what’s in my power for the planet.” Speer says it was important to her to make the space feel generous despite its diminutive size.
“I must have done something right because everyone who enters the space comments on how spacious it feels.”
Back in Nelson, Van Voorthuysen says people should reexamine how much room they really need.
“It would be hard for bigger families but if you’re a solo person, a couple who get on really well, or a bunch of friends who want to live on a block of land, it’s ideal,” she says.
“Don’t believe the capitalist society that makes you think you need a massive house. You don’t.”
2m x 6m with a composting toilet: New Zealand embraces tiny home living
