With the help of some trainee builders, Wellington man Matthew Lillis has nearly completed his new tiny home for around $50,000 all up.
The house was constructed in Raglan as part of a tiny home workshop, he tells Jesse Mulligan.
Matthew's home Photo: Supplied
Lillis has helped out on workshops by Ever Homes in Raglan for the last four years, supporting others learning to build.
When he was offered the opportunity to get help with a new home of his own, he jumped at the opportunity.
Lillis was able to keep the cost of building his house down with the help of 16 building students on the workshop - a "real awesome mixed bag of people" of diverse ages, backgrounds and levels of building experience - and by doing some design and finishing himself.
After previously building a tiny home on his own, he is "very very happy" with the quality of the team's building work on his new one.
"I think if you tried to get the equivalent house commissioned outside of the workshop environment it might cost double."
The team working on Matthew's home Photo: Supplied
At 5.4m by 2.3m, Lillis says his tiny house is "relatively small" and without the usual loft bedroom.
But as a keen hiker and ultramarathon runner, "some of the best times of his life" have been sleeping in tramping huts or a very small tent.
Lillis's new home is very well-insulated, with polystyrene batts containing sheep's wool and double-glazed windows and doors that have PVC frames.
"It will be a very warm, energy-efficient home which will be great in a place like Wellington."
Matthew Lillis (right) with one of the builders of his tiny home Photo: Supplied
A few weeks ago, he drove the home down to his patch of rented land in the Capital.
But it won't be there forever - the house has wheels so Lillis will be able to take it on holiday.
"The idea of spending time in Ruapehu and being able to take your entire house with you is pretty neat."
While tiny homes aren't themselves a solution to New Zealand's housing crisis, the companies who build them here are extremely busy for good reason, Lillis says.
"For young couples without kids or maybe retired people, it's a really good option that I think people should be prepared to contemplate."
The next Ever Homes tiny home workshop will run in Governors Bay, Christchurch from 15 to 19 April.
