Granny flat exemption checklist

Under the National Environmental Standards for Detached Minor Residential Unit 2025 (the NESDMRU) if a granny flat / detached minor residential unit (DMRU) meets ALL the regulations in the NESDMRU, it will not need a resource consent.

The checklist below includes the regulations to determine whether or not a resource consent is likely to be needed for the granny flat / DMRU.

Requirements under other Acts/Legislation

Please note, this is only one part of the process. The following other requirements also apply, relating to whether or not a building consent is required, whether a Development Contribution is payable, and whether the DMRU can be serviced:

• Check out the building and PIM information here.
• Check out the Development Contributions regulations here.
• The following applies only if the DMRU will be serviced by one or more Council reticulated serves (water, stormwater, wastewater). Find out more details on connecting to services here.

Terms used

Please be aware that due to aspects of the central government legislation, the terms granny flat, detached minor residential unit, and DMRU are used interchangeably and all have the same meaning. 

Do the checklist

Please follow the checklist to assess your granny flat/DMRU to determine whether it is either:

•  A permitted activity under the NESDMRU as it complies with all relevant regulations of the NESDMRU

Or

• It needs to be assessed under the Tasman Resource Management Plan (TRMP) to determine whether it needs a resource consent as it fails one or more regulations in the NESDMRU

Read the Granny Flat Exemption Checklist (pdf 227 KB).

Related pages

• Small standalone dwellings
• Development and financial contributions policy