Genius Homes is very pleased to announce the launch of our new online show home! Now it's even easier for you to visit our Timaru-based show home, without leaving your seat.

We're kicking off 2018 with a look at the prefab design trends that we're predicting will grow in popularity in the coming 12 months. Prefab homes in their own right are growing in popularity. More Kiwis are looking to build a brand new home without the hassle of managing an on-site build. But as market demands change and people want a home that's a little bit different, what does this mean for the designs in the coming year?

Funding, or getting a mortgage for your prefab home can be a little different to your traditional kitset home. This is because of the way a prefab is built over that of a more 'conventional' home.

Turning the dream of building your own home into a reality is exciting. Looking at plans, choosing a site and getting the design exactly how you like brings a sense of adventure and excitement.

Building a new home can be a massively stressful undertaking. Organising builders, logistics, the mounting bills and the ever drifting delivery date all add up to a nightmare that is building your dream home.

Not only is it becoming more expensive to build your own home in New Zealand but building on a budget can be a massive challenge just through standard challenges that most builds face.

Many New Zealand homes are cold, damp and mouldy. 47% of homes lack adequate insulation, 44% of owner-occupied homes show dampness and mould whereas 56% of rental properties have mould and damp present.

Prefab homes have been around for a lot longer than many people think. An early version of a prefab home was actually sent from England to the United States back in the 1600s. However commercial prefabricated homes didn't really take off until the advent of kitset homes. Kitset homes were an evolution of house kits, where an entire house would be partly assembled in kit form, transported to site and then pieced together in situ.

In new Zealand both transportable homes and prefabricated homes are popular options amongst those looking for low cost, quick and hassle-free housing. This has been helped, in part, by the ever rising cost of buying a home.

There are number of restrictions to consider when building a second dwelling. Many councils have size restrictions of around 70sqm on a second dwelling but different councils have different rules and it's always worth checking with your local authority (or working with Genius Homes as we do that as part of our process!).