The 21-year-old is also charged with burglary and unlawfully taking a motor vehicle. He is due to appear in Queenstown District Court today .
About 20 firefighters were called to Rere Rd, Lake Hayes Estate, shortly after 3am on Wednesday.
They extinguished a fire which appeared to have begun in the garage, destroying a car, before partly spreading to the house.
No-one was injured in the blaze, although a cat is understood to have died. Four people were in the house but escaped. It is understood they were a woman and her children.
Detective Matt Jones, of Queenstown, said the man was arrested on Saturday.
"He has been remanded in custody."
Part of the roof of the property was pulled down to help extinguish the blaze and the house is uninhabitable because of smoke and water damage. A plea for help for the family has been posted on the Facebook page of Baskets of Blessings, a Queenstown community group which helps people in need.
