What is the difference between a kitset and a transportable home?
A kitset home is a pre-cut, pre-designed package of materials, usually with frames and trusses made in a factory, that is delivered to your section and assembled there by you or a builder. A transportable home is built almost complete in a yard, then trucked to your section and set on its foundations.
Is a kitset home cheaper than a standard build?
The kit price looks low because it is mostly materials. Add foundations, a builder's labour if you are not building it yourself, plumbing, electrical, lining, painting, kitchen, consent fees and site works, and the gap with a group-home standard plan narrows. Kitsets save most when the owner does a lot of the labour.
Ask every kitset supplier for a list of exactly what is and isn't in the kit, item by item. Two kits at the same price can differ by the whole interior.
Is a transportable home cheaper than building on site?
Often, for a simple house, because a yard has no weather delays and the same crew builds the same plans every week. The quoted price usually stops at the gate, though: transport, permits for oversize loads, cranage, piles, connecting services, decks and steps are on top, and a remote or tight site can add a lot.
Do kitset and transportable homes need building consent?
Yes, in almost every case, from the council where the house will sit. The exception is a building that meets every condition of the granny flat exemption, which since 15 January 2026 lets a new, single-storey, standalone home of up to 70 m² go without consent when licensed professionals design and build it.
For a transportable, check whether the yard builds under a consent from your council or under a MultiProof approval, and who handles the inspections done before the house leaves the yard.
Can I get a bank loan for a transportable home?
Usually, but the payment structure differs. A bank lending on a normal build releases money as work appears on your land. With a transportable, most of the work happens in someone else's yard, so ask your lender how it handles progress payments before delivery, and what protects those payments if the builder fails.
A build guarantee taken out on your specific job, such as Master Build or Halo, covers loss of deposit and non-completion. Ask whether your transportable builder offers one.
Which is faster?
A transportable, usually. The house is built while your site is being prepared, so the two run in parallel, and on-site time can be a few weeks from delivery to move-in. A kitset is only as fast as whoever is assembling it, which for an owner-builder working weekends can mean a year or more.
Which suits which section?
Transportables suit sites a truck can reach and a crane can work on, with simple ground. Kitsets suit remote, steep or tight sites where a finished house can't be delivered, because the parts come in on ordinary trucks. On a very steep site, foundations can cost more than either house.
What should I compare between suppliers?
The all-in price delivered to your section, not the brochure price. Line up what is included, the cladding and insulation spec, the window glazing, the guarantee, who handles consent and inspections, and the payment schedule. Then compare that total with a group home builder's standard plan on the same section.
Our build budget calculator and the cost-to-build page give you the per-square-metre benchmark to compare against.