Granny flats · Backyard studios · Sydney and NSW
Two bedrooms, a kitchenette and a bathroom with shower, basin and toilet in 35.2 m² of floor area, or about 54.3 m² with a separate living room, shipped folded and expanded on your block. We choose the factory, require and check its documents, have every unit inspected and its materials tested for asbestos, and price everything in one written quote.
Expandable unit
The Yard 37 travels folded, 2.2 m wide, two to a 40 ft container. On your block, its two side sections expand: 35.2 m² of floor area, two bedrooms, no panels to assemble.
See the Yard 37
Steel-framed expandable units, finished inside at the factory, that travel folded in a shipping container and expand on site: the Yard 37 (35.2 m² inside the walls, two bedrooms) and the Yard 57 (about 54.3 m² inside the walls, two bedrooms and a separate living room). Two finishes on the same frame: Standard and Premium. For NSW, we are specifying Australian versions with 2.4 m ceilings, a laundry and a cooktop: the prices shown are for those versions.
Two bedrooms, a living area with kitchenette and a bathroom with shower, basin and toilet in 35.2 m² of floor area, shipped folded and expanded on your block.
Two bedrooms, a separate living room with kitchenette and a full bathroom in about 54.3 m² of floor area, inside the NSW 60 m² limit.
Seven steps, and at each one something you can check: drawings, photos, reports, tracking.
Galvanised steel frame, cut, welded or bolted and assembled at the factory to approved drawings.
Insulated panels, windows, wiring, bathroom and kitchenette, all fitted at the factory.
Before shipping, an independent inspector checks every unit, with a written report and photos.
Units wrapped, braced and loaded under supervision, container sealed.
Shipping booked by our freight forwarder, with cargo insurance.
Customs clearance, then truck and crane onto the footings: included in metro Sydney.
Footings, tie-downs and connections by the licensed builder named in your quote, under its own contract with you, part of the turnkey price.
An imported building is only worth buying if every step is checked. That is our job.
For every order, we ask several factories to quote, compare them on specification, price and lead time, and negotiate with them directly.
Business licence checked on China's national registry, certificates checked with the bodies that issued them, asbestos results from an accredited laboratory.
An independent inspector checks each unit before it ships and samples materials for asbestos testing. The factory is paid its balance only after a pass.
The unit and its delivery, the GST and import charges, the site works by the builder named in your quote and the approval fees: who is paid what, what is included and what is not.
Two payments to us, both after your council or certifier has confirmed in writing that your unit can be approved: a deposit when you order, and the balance when we send you the independent inspection report, before loading. The builder is paid under its own contract: its deposit is capped at 10% and is due only once you hold its Home Building Compensation certificate. Our bank details appear only on our pro forma invoice: never pay to bank details sent any other way.
From your first email to delivery, then after-sales care for the unit. You never deal with the factory, the forwarder or the trucking company. For the site works, your contact is the builder named in your quote.
A granny flat that cannot clear the border, be connected or be approved is worth nothing, whatever its price. We ask for the proof before you pay a deposit, not after.
Materials, standards and approvalsFAQ
Turnkey from AUD 137,000 for the Australian version of the Yard 37 (2.4 m ceilings, a laundry and a cooktop, which we are specifying with the factory), in Standard finish on a standard metro Sydney block, GST included. That total adds up four parts:
Council contributions, from nil to about AUD 20,000 depending on the council, are extra.
A standard block is level, at least 450 m², outside bushfire, flood and heritage areas, with truck and crane access and the house services within 15 m. Metro Sydney means the 30 Sydney metropolitan councils: Greater Sydney except the Blue Mountains, Hawkesbury, Wollondilly and the Central Coast. The Premium finish, other blocks and other areas are quoted in writing.
In metro Sydney, yes: truck and crane are included, and the crane sets the unit on its footings. Before your quote, we check access with you: street width, driveway, gates, slope, power lines and crane position. Elsewhere, delivery is quoted for your site.
At 35.2 m² of floor area (37.2 m² overall), the Yard 37 is well under the 60 m² limit for a NSW granny flat. But the unit as currently specified cannot be approved yet, whichever pathway applies:
We are specifying an Australian version with 2.4 m ceilings, a laundry and a cooktop. Nothing is payable to us until that version is confirmed and your council or certifier confirms in writing that it can be approved on your block.
Complying development also requires a residential zone other than R5, a lot of at least 450 m², no subdivision and land outside the highest bushfire attack levels; otherwise, a development application is needed. Our guide to granny flats in NSW details the approval pathways, the build rules and importing safely.
No: it has no wheels. It sits on footings and is meant to be approved as a granny flat (secondary dwelling). The current version is not yet approvable in NSW (2.26 m ceilings, no laundry, no cooktop): see "Can I put it in my backyard?". Nothing is payable to us until your council or certifier confirms in writing that the Australian version can be approved on your block.
Your council or a registered certifier, not us. It depends on the pathway confirmed for your block. As a building (complying development or development application), you appoint a principal certifier, who inspects at key stages and issues the occupation certificate. As a manufactured home (section 68 approval), the council approves the installation, and the home needs a structural engineer's certificate and a compliance plate, which we supply. Either way, we supply the drawings, calculations and product documents.
From your first call to the delivery of your unit, and after: one quote that shows every part of the turnkey price and who is paid what; a licensed builder that we select and name in the quote, who contracts with you directly for the site works; photos and reports on the build, the inspection, shipping and delivery; the drawings and documents for the site works; then after-sales care for the unit. The builder carries out and guarantees the site works under its own contract with you.
The licensed NSW builder named in your quote, under its own contract with you: it builds the footings, fixes the unit and expands it, and its licensed trades make the connections. Its price is part of our turnkey price; you pay it directly, never through us.
We are appointing our builder partners in Sydney. Your quote names the builder, with its contractor licence number and Home Building Compensation details, and its price for your block.
In NSW, a secondary dwelling needs a building licence (a prefabricated additions licence is not enough), and electrical, plumbing and drainage work needs a licence whatever its value. Residential building work over $20,000 needs Home Building Compensation cover: check the certificate before paying any deposit to the builder.
You import the unit, so GST and any duty are paid when it clears customs. They are already counted in our turnkey price: about AUD 7,900 of it is paid at the border. A certificate of origin under the China–Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA) gives access to the preferential duty rate. Your quote gives the exact amounts before you order.
Asbestos has been banned in Australia since 2003, yet Australian Border Force has found chrysotile asbestos in imported prefabricated buildings: in flooring, panel insulation and fibre-cement sheet.
If a shipment is targeted, the importer must prove it is asbestos-free, and a supplier's declaration is not enough. Our materials are tested by a NATA-recognised laboratory, and you receive the reports.
They are specified as Lead Free WaterMark certified, and we check each certificate before your order. WaterMark is mandatory for products on the WaterMark Schedule: a licensed plumber cannot install a listed product without it. Since 1 May 2026, products under a WaterMark licence must be Lead Free WaterMark certified to be made; existing WaterMark certified stock may still be installed until 1 May 2028.
If your granny flat is approved as a building, thicker panels give more headroom for your BASIX certificate: Premium has 100 mm EPS walls, and 75 or 100 mm PU or rock wool panels are available. BASIX does not apply to a manufactured home.
Near the coast, the option of a salt-resistant fluorocarbon (PVDF) coating on the frame extends its service life.
Allow for three stages. Approval first: a few weeks for complying development, often several months for a development application or a section 68 approval. Then, for a first order of a model, four to six months from order to delivery: three to six weeks of approvals, five to seven weeks of production, then shipping, customs and delivery. Then the builder's site works, scheduled in its contract.
Under the Australian Consumer Law, a major failure entitles you to a replacement or a refund, and to compensation for any other reasonably foreseeable loss. A minor failure entitles you to a repair or a replacement. Lodgeyard's written warranty, backed by the manufacturer's, adds to these rights; how to claim is in our terms.
For the site works, the builder named in your quote is responsible: its work is covered by the statutory warranties of the Home Building Act 1989 (6 years for a major defect, 2 years for other defects) and by its Home Building Compensation cover.
Two payments to us, both after your council or certifier has confirmed in writing that your unit can be approved: a deposit when you order, and the balance when we send you the independent inspection report, before loading. The amounts and dates are in your quote. The builder is paid under its own contract: its deposit is capped at 10% and is due only once you hold its Home Building Compensation certificate. Payments are by bank transfer, and our bank details appear only on our pro forma invoice: never pay to bank details sent any other way.
Lodgeyard is a brand of REXOR GROUP LLC, a company registered in New Mexico, USA. We are not the manufacturer: the units are made in China by partner factories that we select, check and compare for every order.
Your project
Tell us about your block. We reply by email with a first look, then a written quote that lists what is included, what is not, and the costs paid at the border.
Our turnkey price covers metro Sydney; elsewhere in NSW, we quote delivery and site works for your block.
Or email us: contact@lodgeyard.com
