We think that these are some pretty compelling reasons why you might consider purchasing one of our micro dwellings:

• It’s a much easier and affordable way towards owning your own home.

• You have the freedom to up-and-go and relocated without having to leave your dwelling behind.

• It’s a great way to downsize when you no longer need a large house.

• It’s a great way to add extra living capacity to your family estate.

• It’s a great way to declutter your life and live only with what you need and love.

• It’s a fantastic way to set up a holiday retreat for your family and friends.

There are no hard definitions of what constitutes a tiny house on wheels other than it is a very small dwelling typically built on top of a towable trailer. In that respect our mobile micro dwellings are tiny houses on wheels.

However, we feel that the term “tiny house” is far too broad. We are calling our product a micro dwelling because:

• With their level and free flowing passages and a full height bedroom, our micro dwellings are more akin to a small studio apartment than to what is usually thought of as a “tiny house”.

• We use the the word “micro” to emphasise that our dwellings are small by design. We’ve worked hard to design a product that is best in class by embracing the spatial constraints. It’s not just a shrunken version of a regular suburban house.

• We believe that we have create a new market proposition and as such it deserves its own name.

It appears that the biggest point of confusion for manufacturers, owners and local councils is determining whether a given tiny house is a building, as defined by the Building Act 2004. This is a crucial point as it dictates whether the tiny house has to comply with the Building Code or not.

We design and build our micro dwellings to follow the various rules and requirements put in place to ensure that our dwellings are safe, healthy and durable for their intended use. In particular we followed the Tiny House Guidance for the Building Act 2004 issued by MBIE (November 2021) to ensure that we meet our obligations.

Using the information in chapter 5 of the guidance document we have determined that our mobile micro dwellings as sold are not immovable and therefore are not buildings and as such are exempt from the Building Act 2004. This will hold for as long the micro dwelling remains unaltered and is used as intended.

Since our mobile micro dwellings are not buildings the only regulations and requirements they have to meet are those of the The Land Transport Act 1998. Refer to the Act and Waka Kotahi Factsheet 53a for further details.

However, we believe that any dwelling we live in should be fully code compliant. Therefore we aim to exceed the requirements for our micro dwellings.

We believe that all homes should be safe, affordable, warm, dry and healthy, and that is why we aim to surpass the minimum standards required by the Building Code. In that respect our mobile micro dwellings are compliant with the Building Code.

However, since our mobile micro dwellings are not classified as buildings they are exempt from the Building Code and as such they do not come with a Code Compliance Certificate.

The building consent and resource consent are two separate documents. Below we present a short summary that will help you understand the difference.

Building Consent

A building consent confirms that proposed building work complies with the Building Code. Councils grant building consent applications when they are confident your proposed work will meet the requirements of the Building Code.

Because Bentō mobile micro dwellings are not classified as buildings under the Building Act 2004 they are exempt from the Building Act 2004, and as such do not require a building consent.

Resource Consent

A resource consent is a written decision from your Council about something that may affect the environment or your community. It is a formal approval to do something that the Council hasn’t clearly identified in their plan as either permitted or prohibited.

It is unlikely that you will need a resource consent for a Bentō mobile micro dwelling unless you decide to disregard your local planning regulations. Because planning regulations differ from district to district it is best to discuss this with your local council.

• Your site needs to be level and accessible by the towing vehicle. Our split-shift trailers make it easier to manoeuvre the dwelling into position.

• You will need to prepare a drain trench for liquid run-off from the composting toilet and grey water. Of course you may choose to connect your micro dwelling to any exiting waste and grey water plumbing. Check with your local council what else might be required.

• It is the sole responsibility of the owner to ensure site suitability and readiness.

We use split shift trailers with removable foundation deck specifically designed and manufactured for our dwellings. The trailer can be connected from either end of the dwelling, allowing for extra manoeuvrability when towing.

The trailer comes with electric drum brakes with remote control. No electrical modifications required to your towing vehicle. All you need is a recent smart phone.

The trailer is easy to detach from the dwelling. This allows you to take it away for mechanical inspections and certification without the need to tow the whole dwelling.

All our trailers come with full WoF and registration.

You will need a vehicle capable of towing a load not exceeding 3500kg.

The largest of Bentō mobile micro dwellings fall into Class 1 over-dimension load. Class 1 does not require an over-dimension permit or a pilot.

Refer to Waka Kotahi Factsheet 53a for further details.

Yes they are. You can either purchase a Bentō micro dwelling as a fully mobile dwelling that comes on its own trailer or you can purchase it without the trailer.

If you purchase the dwelling without the trailer you may have to obtain a building consent in order to place it on your site. We recommend that you check with your local council first.

Provided that there is suitable access we can arrange for delivery at extra cost anywhere within the North Island.

We believe in treading lightly on the land and leaving as small a footprint as we can. We believe that we should take care of our own waste as much as we can.

All Bentō micro dwellings come as standard with a low maintenance, waterless composting toilet.

Here are the top reasons why we advocate for the use of composting toilets:

• Waterless — a waterless toilet will save annually tens of thousands of litres of clean, drinking water from being flushed down the loo. [reference]

• No smell — because the toilet uses a mechanical ventilation system there is actually less odour than in a standard flushing toilet.

• Low maintenance — 2 people full-time use requires containers to be changed on average only every 3 months (this will vary with use).

• Waste reducing — raw waste is reduced by over 90%, leaving behind nutrient rich, hygienically safe compost for disposal.

More information:

• Level

There are two types of wastewater: blackwater and greywater.

Blackwater is wastewater which may contain human waste, such as water which comes from your toilet or bidet. It cannot be recycled for health reasons and must be discharged into the mains sewage system or into an on-site sewage treatment system. Since all Bentō micro dwellings are equipped with composting toilets there is no blackwater to deal with.

Greywater is wastewater from baths, showers, hand basins and kitchen sinks. Recycling greywater is a good idea because:

• it will reduce your reliance on the mains water supply system

• it reduces demand on the mains water supply in your area

• reduces the load on sewerage systems including on-site treatment systems

• provides a garden water supply, reducing demand on other sources of water

Greywater cannot be used for cooking, bathing, brushing teeth, swimming or drinking. Greywater from kitchen sinks, in particular, is not suitable for recycling without additional treatment due to increased risk of contamination.

There are two main ways to deal with greywater on your site:

• Discharge it into your existing wastewater plumbing system.

• Install a greywater recycling system.

  We can provide, as an option, a greywater processing system.

Either way you will need to talk to your local council to ensure that you comply with regulations.

We encourage you to read the Smart Guide to Reusing Greywater on Smarter Homes website.

Smarter Homes is a publication of MBIE and provides up-to-date information and options for building smarter to make your home warmer, safer and drier.

The Grey Water Recycling article published by BRANZ is another excellent resource.

All Bentō micro dwellings come with at least one rain water down pipe. We recommend that you capture rain water to use on your garden.

We considered including appliances and decide against it for these reasons:

• Good quality appliances would significantly increase the price of our dwellings.

• Cheap appliances are cheap for a reason: they are of poor build quality and short lifespan. There is already plenty of waste in the world.

• We believe that it is better to start with less and get what you need later.

• We want you to have the choice of how you use your micro dwelling.

Rest assured that there is plenty of space to install appliances if you choose to do so.

You have noticed that we don’t include a bulit-in cooker. This is not an omission but an intentional design decision supported by our design principles.

We recommend that owners purchase a portable induction cooker. These units are small, affordable and more than adequate for cooking meals in a micro dwelling. And once you’re done cooking, stow the unit away and you’ve got a clutter free living space.

And if you don’t cook very often then we’re not going to make you purchase something that you don’t need.

Bentō micro dwellings are super insulated and come with an energy efficient heat recovery ventilation system. We’re confident that you will be comfortable all year round without the need for any extra heating.

Bentō micro dwellings come equiped with a caravan-style power coupling and are wired internally for 240V devices and appliances.

To connect your micro dwelling to an external power source you will need to purchase a 16A caravan lead of appropriate length and ensure that you have appropriate power outlet available on your site. This may require a professional electrician to install one for you.

Bentō micro dwellings are set up to connect to external water supply. You will need a food grade hose to connect your micro dwelling to your water supply. This is as simple as connecting a garden hose to your exterior water tap.

No. Bentō micro dwellings are not designed to contain fire places. While a fire place is a nice accent we don’t believe that you will actually need it for heat because Bentō dwellings are super insulated and come with a smart heat recovery ventilation system.

Our designs are the intellectual foundation of our company. As such they are not available to purchase or copy in any way. However, if our micro dwellings don’t quite meet your needs then we would be happy to discuss customisations. These will incur additional costs.

This is a very hard question to answer because building supplies and logistics are in a constant state of change.

We try to keep our prices as affordable as possible but not at the cost of reducing the quality of our products.

Please contact us for current pricing.