Tiny fix for big problem

Atiny home is a well-designed property that uses every inch of available space to maximum benefit, and won’t feature things such as a double garage, a spare bedroom and two bathrooms. It could be compared to an exceptionally well-designed apartment, but on its own small section of land with (ideally) space for a child to play or a vegetable garden.

Tiny homes provide the perfect option for trading down, people who might want to stay close to where they live while cashing up, and they can provide first-time buyers with a genuinely affordable first rung on the property ladder.

The trouble is, the authorities and some lending institutions have not brought themselves up to date with this trend; a trend that’s been growing for some years.

What’s needed is for all concerned parties — local and central government, builders and lenders — to decide on a set of standards so tiny homes can be built quickly and efficiently. So, instead of one huge home on a plot of land you can build a number of tiny homes.

To take it a step further, imagine tiny-home developments featuring young families and the older generation — they could help each other and build great communities. To make it work and fix the housing crisis, we need a top-down directive from central government with clear and consistent nationwide regulations that lenders can work with.

Apology

In last Saturday’s edition of Herald Homes we mentioned the European contingent of Kingsland and Kerikeri in relation to two property editorials.

We accept that this data can be interpreted the wrong way, and no offence was meant by its publication.

None of the vendors and real estate agents for the two properties — Robyn Ellson of Ray White (Kingsland) and Irene Bremner of Bayleys (Kerikeri) — had any prior knowledge of the fact box information we published.

We sincerely apologise for any offence caused to our valued real estate agents and readers, and will no longer publish cultural diversity data in Herald Homes.