The 5 best new home builders in Hobart

A project builder sells a set range of designs. On a flat or gently sloping lot in one of the newer subdivisions around greater Hobart, it's usually the most predictable price you'll get.

A custom builder builds to plans drawn for the site. Many Hobart blocks are on hillsides or close to bush. Split levels, suspended floors, deep footings and bushfire construction all take a design away from the catalogue, and a custom builder is used to pricing them.

Budget carefully either way. Tasmania's average build rate in 2024-25 was about $2,538 per sqm, well above the national $1,967 and the highest of any state, so mainland price guides will undersell a Hobart build.

What a base price usually leaves out

• Site costs: excavation, rock, retaining, extra footings and stormwater on sloping lots.
• Bushfire construction: requirements set by the bushfire assessment if the lot is in a bushfire-prone area.
• Geotechnical work if the lot is in a landslip hazard area.
• Upgrades and externals: display home finishes, driveway (often steep), decks, landscaping and window coverings.

Fix site costs in writing after the soil and site assessment. Our building costs guide covers the rest.

A new house in Tasmania is permit building work. You engage a building surveyor, who checks the design and issues a certificate of likely compliance. The council, as permit authority, then issues the building permit. Planning approval from council may be needed first, depending on the zone and the design.

Two hazard rules come up often around Hobart:

• Bushfire-prone areas. Land is bushfire-prone if it's inside the boundary on the planning scheme overlay map or, where the map shows none for the council area, if it's within 100 metres of at least one hectare of bushfire-prone vegetation. Building there has to meet the bushfire rules for the site.
• Landslip hazard areas. Land shown on a planning scheme overlay map as within a landslip hazard band is a hazardous area under the Building Regulations, and building work there is regulated under the landslip provisions. Check the overlay before you buy a steep block.

On 1 October 2026, the old CBOS was split into Building Standards Tasmania, which runs building regulation, and Consumer Affairs Tasmania, which handles licensing and consumer issues. Old CBOS links redirect or carry a notice.

The average new Tasmanian house took about 9 months from start of work to completion in 2025-26 (ABS), close to the national average of about 8.5 months.

Tasmania differs from every mainland state in one big way: there's no home warranty insurance. A 2023 law to bring it in has passed but hasn't started. If your builder goes broke mid-build, there's no insurer to finish the job, so the rest of these rules matter more.

• Licence: the builder needs a Builder (General Construction) licence in the Domestic subclass or higher. The register only shows current licence holders, so if a builder isn't there, treat them as unlicensed until proven otherwise.
• Contract: for work of $20,000 or more it must be in writing, and the builder must give you the Residential Building Consumer Guide before you sign.
• Deposit: 5% for contracts of $50,000 or more, per the official Consumer Guide (10% between $20,000 and $50,000). Up to 20% is allowed where off-site work is more than half the price.
• Cooling-off: 5 business days after you receive the signed contract and the Consumer Guide. The builder may keep $100 plus reasonable out-of-pocket costs.
• Statutory warranties: last 6 years from practical completion and pass to later owners.

With no insurance backstop, keep payments behind the work: pay each stage only once it's finished and checked, and look hard at the builder's track record and finances. Disputes start in writing with the builder, then mediation through the Director of Building Control, then the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (TASCAT). See our home warranty insurance guide and fixed price vs cost plus.

We started from builders working across Hobart, then kept only those with a current Building Standards Tasmania licence, a clear record of new home work on their own site, and a solid independent reputation. Order weighs fit for this kind of project, reviews and awards, years trading, and how openly each builder explains its process, licence and warranty. Size and advertising spend don't count.

No builder pays to be listed or ranked. If you request quotes through this page, we pass your project to builders that suit it. Read the full method.