Full interview with the Aussie Queenstown treehouse-builder

The Australian man who built a treehouse on a Queenstown couple's property has branded soaring rent prices in the city as the rationale behind his illegal construction job.

Carpenter Andy Marshall, 23, hand-built a 10-person high-rise, complete with a kitchen, at the top of a 30 year-old Douglas Fir - but the property was owned by someone else, and they cut it down.

In the full interview with Mr Marshall on Three's The Project on Thursday, he explained the idea behind it was just to give himself and his friends a place to live for a reasonable price.

"It's [all about] the joys of paying $250 a week and sharing a house with four other people in one room in Queenstown - so I just did it for everyone else out there that can't afford the rent," Mr Marshall said. The average weekly rent in Queenstown is $500 for a three-bedroom house, according to REINZ data.

"I was like, 'Let's get people thinking outside the box', so I built a treehouse and it turned into that."

However he said his first treehouse being cut down hasn't put him off - revealing he has plans to construct more of the structures in Queenstown once he's recovered from a shoulder injury.

"You're definitely going to see something in the next few months once my collarbone's healed up. I'm going to build an amazing treehouse, maybe even with a sauna in it this time - who knows?" Mr Marshall said.

"I'm branching out. I'm gonna start an Airbnb thing in Queenstown; cheap accommodation, living in trees - it's gonna make millions."

Watch The Project's full interview with Andy Marshall above.

Newshub.