82 | nzdairy DAIRY SERVICES » MyPod High-quality, fully consented small homes The buildings are designed to meet a range of conditions around the country, including coastal and high wind zones, earthquake requirements and snow loading, allowing them to be transported nationwide. Karen Phelps Landon Neal reckons he has a product that could be a good fit for farmers: high-quality, fully consented small homes built in a factory and delivered nationwide. Landon has been in the building industry for 25 years and founded Nelson-based business MyPod a decade ago. For its first eight years, the company focused on purpose-built auxiliary spaces - office pods, sleep-outs, music studios and winery tasting rooms. That changed two years ago when Landon moved into a larger factory, opening the door to larger-scale builds. “I’ve started doing basically one and two-bedroom homes,” he says. “I did a four-bedroom home last year. I can pretty much do anything, but I build them all inside a factory and ship them around the country.” Landon is quick to dispel a common miscon- ception about his work. “They’re not tiny homes,” he says. “I build fully consented, small homes that you would have built exactly the same as a house.” Each building is fully finished inside the factory, including insulation, thermally broken windows and doors, electrical and plumbing. The homes are consented with Tasman District Council from the bearer up, with buyers then responsible for site-specific foundations and service connections through their local council. “I can supply all that paperwork to whatever council it’s going to,” Landon says. “It’s no different than relocating a house.” While recent changes to granny flat rules have sparked interest in secondary dwellings, Landon says the consenting process remains complex - a challenge he believes his factory-based model helps reduce. The buildings are designed to meet a range of conditions around the country, including coastal and high wind zones, earthquake requirements and snow loading, allowing them to be transported nationwide. The idea of targeting the farming sector emerged after a conversation with a friend who works as a contract milker. “A lot of the time they have to give staff a whole house, even though it might just be a couple,” Landon says. “I’m thinking there’s something I can offer there.” Beyond worker accommodation, he sees opportunities for farmers looking to diversify income through short-stay accommodation, or to support intergenerational living on-farm. “It allows people to downsize into something modern and easy to maintain, but still stay on the farm,” he says. Landon says building in a factory removes many of the challenges associated with on-site construction, particularly in rural areas. “There’s no mess on the farm,” he says. “They’re not having builders come and go, and all the costs that come with that.” Transport costs are known upfront, and once the building arrives on site, only foundations and service connections are required. “All you’re really having to do is get the piles done and the trenches to connect the power Small homes and Grannyflats We build high quality one and two bedroom homes that are consented in our factory to the latest building code. Studio homes from $150,000 One bedroom homes from $195,000 Two bedroom homes from $240,000 022 160 7086 | www.mypod.nz and services,” Landon says. “It’s a nice, simple process.” While some of MyPod’s designs lean toward the architectural, Landon says the same process could just as easily be applied to straightforward on-farm accommodation. “It doesn’t have to be this,” he says. “I can build things to a budget - it’s just a matter of talking to the client and finding out what they actually need.”
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