Global Awards News

LONDON: Regulations continue to hinder the growth of the baby boomer embrace of tiny houses.

It was a sound plan – sell the three-bedroom family home in Whanganui and buy a granny flat to put on the back section of their daughter’s property in the same city.

But Julie and Wayne Cowley didn’t realise there would be a lot of hoops to jump through before they could make their plan a reality – it was eight months after their 12.5m by 3m Deluxe tiny house arrived on site ($100,000 including GST) before they could officially live in it.

Julie Cowley says the couple had been wondering how they would cope in their larger house should one of them pass away. “It was getting to be too much work for one person,” she says. “And suddenly HouseMe ads started appearing in my Facebook feed and I said to hubby, ‘look at this’. After that the planning all happened very quickly.”

The couple were about to visit Tauranga to stay with their other daughter and her family and decided to check out the granny flats while in the city. “We were quite impressed. We looked at the two-bedroom ones, but fell in love with a 37m² one-bedroom unit. It was just what we wanted – something we could lock up and leave. We would have no pets (been there done that), and it would give us the chance to get out and explore New Zealand, something we have wanted to do since the Covid lockdowns.”

“We ordered the tiny house in November 2021, while they were offering a free fridge with the deal. It arrived in April last year, and then the problems started with the council, which has been an utter nightmare to deal with. Councils need to recognise that tiny homes are a great solution for housing at different stages of your life. But they don’t make it easy.”

The council changed the couple’s plans for the base, insisting on piles, and Julie Cowley says there were numerous other stumbling blocks, including the plumbing. “At one stage I had to call them and ask them to explain exactly what it was they wanted us to do in layman’s terms. We don’t work in the industry, and couldn’t understand the documentation.”

Cowley says while they could use the tiny house as a temporary sleepout with a chemical toilet, all the couple’s meals, bathing and laundry had to be taken in the main house.

“We finally were allowed to move in officially a week before Christmas – that was when everything was connected, so that was a real celebration. We can now say it was worth it. We absolutely love it.”

Cowley says they are still tweaking and rearranging things. “We had to get rid of a lot of stuff that had been put in storage temporarily – after we sold the house, we had six months living in a caravan in our daughter’s driveway.”

She says older family members were initially sceptical about the plan, but changed their minds as soon as they saw it completed. “Aunty Gloria said ‘it’s just gorgeous’. They have all been impressed with how big it is, and how much storage there is.”

The couple love being close to daughter Emma Williams and three grandchildren Korban, 15, Maddison,13 and Lacie, 11. “We thought they’d be in and out every five minutes, but they aren’t. They come when they want to talk to Nan, and I do the after-school run. It works both ways.”

Both Julie and Wayne Cowley still work part-time, but they are now planning their bucket list.

“Our daughter and family in Tauranga have now moved to Melbourne, so that’s a trip coming up. A stepdaughter lives in Perth, so that’s another trip. And we have been poring over websites looking at cruises on offer this year. Hubby would like to go to England, and we are very much wanting to explore a lot more of the South Island, starting with the West Coast.

“The next few years are going to be all about making memories.”