Making it easier to build granny flats

City for People submits in support of more homes in existing urban areas.

The central government has recently proposed a new policy which would make it easier for people to build a ‘minor residential unit’ (commonly known as a granny flat) in their backyard. Under this policy, there would be fewer hoops you’d need to jump through to build an additional small, simple home on your property.

City for People support this proposal, because it will make it easier and faster to people to build more homes within existing urban areas. More homes will help with the severe housing shortages being faced in major cities around the country, including Wellington. Building a bunch of new, smaller homes will give people more choices. Making use of under-utilised land in the inner-suburbs will mean more people can live close to the places they work, study, and socialise. Denser urban form will reduce the need for our cities to sprawl out at the edges too, which is better for the environment.

They government has been seeking feedback on this proposal, so we’ve just made a submission in support — in collaboration with our friends at Generation Zero, Renters United, Greater Ōtautahi and the Coalition for More Homes.

We want a city built for people. A city all of us can share — where there are enough homes for everyone, it’s easy to get around, and we have choices about the types of homes we want to live in, and which of our local communities we want to put down roots in. 

At the end of the day, we can’t fix Wellington’s housing crisis without building more homes. At City for People, we will continue to support policies — whether from the council, or the central government — that will help these homes get built, and in the right places.

— Eleanor and the City for People team.

Art by Erin Daily. Cover image by Nick Sarvari on Unsplash.