This after "constantly battling" rising building costs and supply chain issues
A tiny home company that had hoped to help alleviate New Zealand’s housing crisis has gone into liquidation after “constantly battling” rising building costs and supply chain issues.
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Founded in 2018 by Jamie Cameron and his then-wife Kylie Thomson, NZ Tiny Homes aimed to help people achieve their homeownership dreams.
Persistent supply chain issues plus the rising cost of building materials, which according to Cameron had spiked 50% since the pandemic, meant it was no longer feasible to continue to operate, Stuff reported.
“When you get constant delays and constant disruptions over the last two years you are constantly battling,” he said. “I can’t believe the number of obstacles that have been thrown at us.”
Tony Maginness, of Baker Tilly Staples Rodway Auckland, who had been appointed liquidator, said it was “too early to tell” how much debt the company incurred but that he would have a more accurate picture when his report gets published next week.
Thomson has since left the business.
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NZ Tiny Homes’ head office and manufacturing plant is headquartered in New Plymouth. Finished homes were trucked to buyers throughout the North Island.
At first, the company had sales agents throughout the North Island, before it expanded to the South Island. It forged a deal with NZ Tiny Homes Mainland to market, build, and sell Tiny NZ Homes designs in the South Island, but the two were separate entities, Stuff reported.
In 2019, the business grew by 500%, constructing 50 homes in a span of 10 months, driven by skyrocketing demand for downsizing amid soaring property prices. 8052
“It is so disappointing we are turning people away who want to buy homes from us because of this,” Cameron said. “But it got to a point where we could not deliver because we kept getting delays and it was incredibly hard.”
Cameron said he was now focused on delivering finished homes for current clients and making sure his team of 11 builders were taken care of.
He understood that some “interested parties” were looking to finish off six builds that were nearly complete before taking over the business.
Three builds, meanwhile, were about to commence.
“We are working through how to carry on and finish those,” he told Stuff.
