Back in 2021: Diane Wood with dog Brandy outside her tiny Warkworth home. Since then, she has made interior and exterior improvements. We visited her not long after the home was transported to the site. Photo / Dean Purcell.
Back in 2021: Diane Wood with dog Brandy outside her tiny Warkworth home. Since then, she has made interior and exterior improvements. We visited her not long after the home was transported to the site. Photo / Dean Purcell.
In an industry where manynational group house-building businesses have suffered a halving in their workloads as the economic slump reduces demand, one transportable home business has bucked the trend.
HouseMe increased output as well as revenue growth, having been twice listed in the Deloitte Fast 50 for its financial expansion in 2022 and 2023.
BCI, which supplies data on annual residential completions, released its What’s On report to the Herald which showed HouseMe at place 21 in the October 2021 year.
A feature published on May 1 was headlined Who are NZ’s 20 busiest house builders?
That showed that in the March 2024 year, HouseMe was ranked fifth behind big-name long-established companies G.J. Gardner, Fletcher Residential, Mike Greer and Signature Homes.
HouseMe built 285 residences valued at approximately $33m in March 2024 year, up from 117 homes in October 2021 year.
Bryce Glover, national sales and marketing manager and 9 per cent shareholder of the Takanini-headquartered company, said it had built far more than 285 new homes lately if a different time period was used as the measure.
“One building consent can apply to a number of units on a site. We’ve probably built close to 350 units in the calendar year,” he said referring to the 12 months to December 2023.
The company targets the budget-conscious, trucking places nationally. Prices start at $65,000 but go up to $169,000 for a 50sq m two-bedroom transportable home.
Glover said the most challenging place the company had sent homes to was Waiheke Island.
The tiny house owned by Diane Wood. Photo / Dean Purcell
Due to the tiny-home nature of its output, BCI says the company’s average house size is a tiny 35sq m and average price is just $114,000.
Glover said demand was particularly strong from older people, renting later in life yet with access to land, often via family, and could afford a HouseMe place starting at only $65,000.
HouseMe appeared on Deloitte Fast 50 for the second consecutive year, he said.
“We soared to 23rd position among New Zealand’s top 50 fastest-growing companies last year with 238 per cent growth. In 2022, we were ranked 43rd with 172 per cent growth,” Glover said.
Although trading as HouseMe, Compact Homes is the registered entity behind the business. Companies Office records showed that was registered in 2017. Ryan Eagar of New Plymouth and Tim Fahey of Pukekohe are its directors and its industry classification is prefabricated building manufacturer.
Diane Wood realised she needed a change after her partner died and maintaining her motor home became too much for her.
Encouraged by her son-in-law, she bought a tiny home from HouseMe for $75,000 and was enjoying living in it on her section north of Auckland.
“It was the best I saw out of all the others that I looked at,” she said while showing the Herald around the lounge, kitchen and bathroom areas of the 29sq m home. “It was the price and how it looked and all the facilities it had in it,” she said three years ago.
This month, she said she remained extremely satisfied with her home, where she still lives. She had made changes to improve the exterior and interior look.
Glover said prices were just for the house and did not include the price of a section, consents if needed, connections to services, landscaping or transportation to sites. The average North Island transport cost was $3500-$4000.
Glover said that 2021 Herald article which featured Wood resulted in people making inquiries with HouseMe.
Anne Gibson has been the Herald’s property editor for 24 years, has won many awards, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.
