Kitset homes
A kitset home arrives at your site as a flat-pack of pre-cut components - wall frames, roof sections, joinery - that you (or a builder you hire) assemble on site. Kitset suppliers typically don't do the build - they sell you the materials. You provide the build labour, site management, services connections and consent.
Trade-off: cheaper up front, much more work for you, longer total timeline (6–12 months from order to liveable), and the final build quality depends heavily on who you hire to assemble.
Modular homes
Modular homes are built in sections (modules) at a factory, then trucked to site and joined together. They can be very large - multi-bedroom, multi-storey, full family homes. Built off-site so timelines are faster than a traditional builder (typically 4–8 months), but pricing is comparable to a traditional build and the on-site work to join modules and finish the build is significant.
Tiny homes (what we build)
A tiny home - at least how we use the term - is a complete, factory-built, transportable dwelling that arrives on a truck, is craned or rolled onto your site, and is ready to live in within a day. The whole build is done in our Raglan workshop. No site labour from you, no kitset assembly, no joining modules. Lead time 8–18 weeks. Cost is generally lower than modular and significantly lower than a traditional builder.
Which to pick
Kitset if you want the lowest material cost and have time + skills (or builder relationships) to do the assembly. Modular if you want a large, multi-bedroom build with the benefits of factory construction. Tiny home if you want fastest time-to-live-in and lowest fuss - fully built, delivered, done.