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New Zealand's first wheelchair-friendly tiny home

Emma Turton

St John of God Halswell and the Menzshed are building a tiny home for wheelchair users.

New Zealand's first wheelchair-accessible tiny home is being built in Christchurch.

The St John of God Hauora Trust of Halswell and the Halswell Menzshed have designed a tiny house a wheelchair-user can live in.

"These homes are affordable and relocatable and hopefully that can be replicated," Virginia Spoors, St John of God Health & Ability Regional Manager (Southern) said.

After issues with a lack of accommodation at their centre, St John of God Halswell looked into tiny homes as an option to help transition people back into the community.

The first tiny home will be nine by three metres and once it is built, will be set up on-site at the centre. Once this first home is built by the Menzshed they will re-assess and see whether more will be built.

Accessible tiny homes have been built overseas with the same technology as available in New Zealand.

"It's really just putting it together in a project and linking it with somebody like St John of God who have the need and the people who are looking for that type of solution," Mark Anderson Facility Manager for St John of God Halswell said.

"Within 12 months we'd like to have something [built] that people can come and look in," Anderson said.