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Nearly 1000 single-storey buildings have been investigated over compliance by New Zealand’s two largest councils since 2020, as the Government cuts red tape limiting the construction of garden sheds, sleepouts, garages and other detached single-storey buildings on private properties. 

Regulation Minister David Seymour and Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk recently revealed Cabinet has agreed to remove setback distance requirements for structures under 10sq m and reduce the minimum setback distance for those between 10sq m and 30sq m to just 1m. 

“There is no justification for such generous setback distances on private property,” Seymour said during the announcement last week. 

“Today’s housing market means space is tight and building costs are high. These types of property developments are practical and affordable improvements. We want people to be able to utilise them without hassle.” 

The Herald asked New Zealand’s three main city councils for data on the number of complaints received in the past five years related to non-compliant work on outbuildings. 

Auckland Council recorded 801 investigations overall, with 137 related to garages, 346 related to carports and sheds, 314 related to other outbuildings and four involving “unauthorised building”. 

The Government plans to make it easier for people to build single-storey structures like the one above on private properties without building consent. Photo / Ben Fraser 

Despite the large number of investigations, Auckland Council said none had ended in prosecution. 

“Abatement notices and infringements would be more common,” a spokesperson said. 

Tracey Weston, Christchurch City Council’s head of regulatory compliance, said it had received 170 complaints about sheds, sleepouts and garages since September 2021. 

The majority (94) related to sheds, with concerns also raised about garages (43) and sleepouts (40). 

“The basis of the majority of the concerns raised with council around these buildings is in relation to proximity to boundaries, either triggering Building Act and/or planning-related boundary setbacks, with secondary concern being stormwater runoff due to being in close proximity,” Weston said. 

“There have been no prosecutions for non-compliances of this nature.” 

Regulation Minister David Seymour said freestanding, single-storey buildings such as garden sheds and sleepouts offer "practical and affordable improvements" to homes. Photo / Mark Mitchell 

Of the buildings deemed non-compliant, Weston said they’ve “either been addressed through the consent process, removed, [or] relocated to a compliant location, with some of these matters still being part of an ongoing investigation”. 

Meanwhile, Wellington City Council (WCC) said it had few complaints – and next to no prosecutions – related to non-compliant single-storey buildings. 

However, it would only divulge the exact figures through a Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act (LGOIMA) request. 

“We’ve had very occasional situations where we’ve acted on a neighbour’s complaint and told a property owner to slightly shift a shed or similar back from a boundary but ... the incidences are anecdotally few and far between,” a WCC spokesperson said. 

Under the current regulations, the Building Act only allows freestanding single-storey structures to be built on private property without building consent if it’s at a further distance from another building or legal boundary than its own height. 

Announcing the changes, Penk said it was of the Government’s view that Kiwis shouldn’t be “bogged down in bureaucracy when making practical use of their own backyard”. 

The relaxed regulations are expected to be in place by the end of this year.