TE WHANGANUI-A-TARA

Granny flats in Wellington.

Wellington rents stay stubbornly high while flat land stays stubbornly rare, so the value of a buildable corner of your section is enormous. Our sets are engineered for the capital's famous wind, and a two-bed here returns around $700 a week, with inner suburbs higher again. The capital's housing arithmetic is brutal in your favour if you already hold land: a turnkey build from $133K to $194K producing $700 a week is a return no Wellington house purchase can match, and since January 2026 a home up to 70 m² needs no building consent when licensed professionals design and build it. What that exemption did not remove is the site itself: slope, access and Extra High wind still decide what your section can do, which is why the free feasibility pass matters more in Wellington than anywhere else in the country. Some sections work brilliantly. Some don't. We tell you which yours is before you spend a dollar.

Check my Wellington section, free Call 0800 736 836 See the plans

CONSENT-EXEMPT ≤ 70 M² · WELLINGTON CITY COUNCIL RULES CHECKED PER ADDRESS

LICENSED BUILDING PRACTITIONER DESIGNED + BUILT

FIXED-PRICE BUILD CONTRACT

FULL REFUND IF YOUR SECTION FAILS THE FEASIBILITY CHECK

GST RECEIPTS · VISA · MASTERCARD · POLI

$700/WK

TYPICAL 2-BED RENT · WELLINGTON

21.9%

GROSS YIELD VS $166,000 TURNKEY

11–13WKS

TYPICAL BUILD WINDOW · WELLINGTON

Indicative figure from typical advertised two-bed rents in Wellington; verify against Tenancy Services bond data before launch. Yield is gross, before rates, insurance and maintenance, and it assumes the land is already yours. Indicative planning numbers, not financial advice.

THE LOCAL NUMBERS · WELLINGTON

Building a granny flat in Wellington: the numbers that matter.

TYPICAL 2-BED RENT$700 per week

RENT FIGURE, SOURCEDIndicative figure from typical advertised two-bed rents in Wellington; verify against Tenancy Services bond data before launch

LAND + SECTIONSFlat buildable land is the scarcest in NZ, which makes an underused level corner of a Wellington section unusually valuable

WIND ZONEExtra High is the default assumption across the hill suburbs; engineering handles it as standard

GROUND + FOUNDATIONSGreywacke hills with pockets of flat; slope and retaining, not soil strength, are the usual foundation drivers

BUILD WINDOW11 to 13 weeks; wind days and slope work push Wellington toward the longer end

COUNCILWellington City Council

THE LOCAL PLANNING CHECKSlope does the gatekeeping: hillside provisions, retaining near boundaries and access rule more sections in or out than the wind ever does

BUILDING CONSENTNot required up to 70 m² since January 2026, when licensed professionals design and build the home. District plan rules still apply.

GROSS YIELD21.9% against a $166,000 turnkey Kōwhai 60, on land you already own

LAST UPDATED2026-07. We revise these figures as local data moves.

WHO BUILDS HERE

Who builds a granny flat in Wellington.

Wellington's granny flat builders are mostly solving the same problem: people they love cannot afford to live near them. Parents in Karori, Johnsonville and the northern suburbs build so adult children can stop renting; public servants and hospital staff build for steady rental income from a tenant pool that never thins; and downsizers build the flat for themselves, banking the main house's rent or handing it to family. The city's flat-land scarcity shapes all of it: a level or gently sloping corner of an existing section is often the only realistic way to add a home in the suburb you already live in.

BUILDING IN WELLINGTON

Building a granny flat in Wellington: what the site checks cover.

Extra High wind zones are the Wellington default and our engineering handles them as standard: bracing, fixings and glazing are specified to the zone, and the design does not change. The real variables are slope and access. Gentle slopes carry roughly a 9% cost factor, steep or tricky sites add around 18%, and genuinely difficult sections get an honest no at the feasibility stage rather than an optimistic quote. Craning and materials access on narrow hill streets are scheduled into the plan, not discovered during it. Wellington's wind and rain days also mean the build window runs to the longer end: 11 to 13 weeks is honest.

Every plan set is adapted and signed for your exact address before anything is built. Not buildable means a full refund; that promise sits on the cart and the checkout.

THE PLANS · PRICED FOR WELLINGTON

Three plans, priced for Wellington.

Plan sets from $4,900, turnkey builds from $133,000. Rent tags below use Wellington figures.

EARNS ~$700/WK

Fern 48

2 BED · 48 M² · FROM $133,000

EARNS ~$700/WK

Kōwhai 60

2 BED · 60 M² · FROM $166,000

EARNS ~$700/WK

Rātā 70

3 BED · 70 M² · FROM $194,000

Renders show the design and its cladding options, not a completed Wellington build. Where the money actually goes →

HOW IT GOES

Free check on your Wellington address

Zoning, services, access and Wellington City Council's rules, read against your actual section. About fifteen minutes.

BOOK THE CHECK →

Plans adapted and signed

Wind zone, soils and the district plan, worked into the set and signed by a licensed designer. Usually 5 working days.

Keys in 11–13 weeks

The honest window for Wellington sites, set once the quote is fixed. Weather and ground can move it, and we say so before you sign.

RUN THE NUMBERS · KŌWHAI 60

Does it stack up?

FINISH

YOUR SITE

Locked to the Kōwhai 60's 60 m² footprint. Ballpark only; your address sets the real number.

ESTIMATED BUILD COST

$200,000

to $230,000

FINISH RATE$3,550 / M²

TIME ON SITE11–13 wks

PLAN SETINCLUDED

Get real numbers for my address

PROOF · WELLINGTON

First builds underway in Te Whanganui-a-Tara.

We are not going to show you a Wellingtonproject we have not built, or reviews we have not earned. What we can show you is the design, the specification and the contract, and every completed build gets photographed and written up here with the owner's name on it. If being early matters less to you than seeing a finished one first, say so on the call and we will tell you when the nearest build is done.

See the designs built Our review policy

ASKED IN WELLINGTON

Granny flat questions from Wellington.

Around $700 a week for a warm two-bed, more in the inner suburbs. Public-sector and hospital tenants keep demand steady regardless of the economic cycle, and warm, dry, compliant stock is exactly what Wellington's older rental inventory lacks. Vacancy on a new unit near a bus spine is effectively nil.

Gentle slopes, yes, with roughly a 9% cost factor for the extra foundation and retaining work. Steep or tricky sites add around 18%, and genuinely difficult sections get an honest no at the feasibility stage. Wellington has more of all three categories than any other city, which is why the free address check comes first here.

No building consent for a home up to 70 m² since January 2026, designed and built by licensed professionals. In Wellington the exemption is the easy part: the district plan and site checks that actually decide feasibility are slope, retaining near boundaries, and Extra High wind engineering, which is the default assumption across the city's hill suburbs. Our address adaptation covers the wind spec; the feasibility pass gives you the slope answer straight.

Not for the engineering: sets are specified to Extra High wind zones as standard here, with bracing and fixings signed by a licensed designer for your actual address. Where wind shows up is the schedule, since crane and roof days need calm windows, which is why Wellington builds run 11 to 13 weeks rather than the national fast end.

Often yes, and it is checked before you commit. The feasibility pass looks at truck access, crane positioning and carry distance, and prices any manual handling honestly. Some Wellington sites need a smaller crane or staged deliveries, which affects cost, not feasibility. Genuinely impossible access earns a straight no early.

It is one of the strongest use cases in the capital. A two-bed rental in Wellington runs around $700 a week, so an adult child paying even modest board into a backyard home builds family wealth instead of a landlord's. When they eventually buy, the flat converts to roughly $36K a year of gross rent without a day of vacancy.

Will your Wellington section work?

Fifteen minutes with a specialist: Wellington City Council's rules, your services, your access, and a real number for your address.

Book a Turnkey solution call Call 0800 736 836

READ BEFORE YOU BUILD

The 70m² consent exemption, in plain English

What the 70 m² exemption does and doesn't cover

What a minor dwelling really costs to build

Where the money actually goes on a build

Renting out your backyard home, the tidy way

The maths behind the rent figure above

NEAR WELLINGTON

Granny flats in Palmerston North Whanganui plans + builds Building in Nelson Granny flats in Blenheim Everywhere we build →

WHERE WE BUILDAuckland Gisborne Hamilton Napier & Hastings New Plymouth Palmerston North Rotorua Tauranga Wellington Whanganui All locations →

SEVENTY · NZ-WIDE0800 736 836 HELLO@SEVENTY.CO.NZMON–SAT · 8AM–6PM

Call 0800 736 836 Free section check