Providing staff with comfortable farm housing leads to a happier workforce and a more efficient farm. To help you find the best farm housing solution, we’ve put together all the things you’ll need to consider when choosing farm accommodation so that you can make the most informed decision.
Minimising safety issues
When building a new house on your farm, you’ll need to consider a whole host of safety concerns, adding to the many farm safety risks you already have to manage.
The more people, materials and movement on your farm the greater the risks so it’s important that you choose a building partner that understands and reduces these risks.
An onsite build can have a significant impact on a working farm, and often leads to delays and unforeseen challenges for farmers and builders alike.
Farm worker housing needs to be compliant with the Healthy Homes legal standards, which means they need to be dry, warm and healthy.
For many existing homes in New Zealand, it can take a significant amount of work to get them up to new regulations, which is why investing in a quality new farmhouse will end up saving time and money in the long run. This is especially important for farmers who need to focus their energy on running the farm itself.
Building can be a stressful and intimidating process, especially when it’s on top of managing a working farm full-time. When planning a build, you’ll need to be prepared for delays, unforeseen weather conditions, construction waste and general build decisions. Most home builds require you to make a whole hoard of decisions along the way, and each one requires your full attention. As a farmer, you won’t have that kind of time to offer, meaning either your farm or your build will bear the costs. Fortunately, choosing an off-site building process can largely eliminate these interruptions and streamline the project.
With a prefab home, your farm can operate unhindered throughout the majority of the build. Tradies are only on-site for a short time when the farmhouse gets delivered. This will lessen the load of health and safety paperwork and reduce the risk of incidents.
With Genius Homes, you can choose a house plan from our range and leave the rest to us. We'll deliver a quality farmhouse with everything up to the standards of your local district, on-time and budget.
Besides all the logistical benefits of a prefab farm home, providing decent staff accommodation can be a strategic step to attract good staff, and retain them for longer. Your farm will reap the rewards if you can encourage staff loyalty, and you’ll avoid the process of hiring new staff for longer. Replacing a permanent staff member can cost you up to three times their salary, so it’s in your best interest to keep them around as long as possible.
Fortunately, by offering a warm, comfortable farm home for them to live in onsite, you are taking care of one of their main priorities. This will give you an edge over other job offers and lead them to choose you first.
If you help to take care of your worker’s health, comfort and travel costs, they’ll be more effective when working for you, and safer. If you can ensure their housing is close to work, meets Healthy Homes standards and makes them feel relaxed in their downtime, then you’ll be sure to notice the impact it has on their work performance.
Genius Homes has a diverse selection of options for farm accommodation ranging from 1 bedroom self-contained units to a large 4 bedroom manager’s home. Depending on the size of your farm and how many workers you have, you’ll be able to find a practical option for you.
The Staff Quarters is 72 sqm and includes twin cabins with ensuites and a communal kitchen area. We also offer the Staff Quarters Twin which has two completely self-contained units in one building.
The Kiwi is a modern 1 bedroom self-contained unit with a kitchen, bathroom and 5.5 sqm deck. The floor plan is 29.64 sqm which means you don’t have to worry about planning consent.
To find out more about building our off-site build process and quality house plans designed specifically for staff accommodation, download our Farm Homes brochure.