Thinking tiny could have a big impact

But red tape has put solution to housing crisis on the backburner, write Louise Elliot and Jeff Briscoe

This housing type isn’t for everyone, but for many it has great appeal

In a housing crisis as serious as ours, you would think that all options to alleviate the pressure would be being explored. That all ways to get people housed would be on the table for fair consideration. And that all unnecessary barriers of over-regulation would have been torn down long ago. Sadly, this isn’t the case.

Hobart’s housing prices are the highest we’ve ever seen, with the median reaching $701,000, according to a recent report from PropTrack. And it’s fair to say the rental picture is worse, given an unsustainable $550 or more of the weekly budget will be chewed by rent for many Hobart households.

These figures change – typically trending upwards – but what remains consistent is the underlying cause. We don’t have enough homes for the people who need them. Demand is avalanching over supply.

Yes, there are pockets of progress and goals being set. The state government has an ambitious plan to deliver thousands of social housing homes and has introduced other incentive programs. NGOs and other organisations are working on various programs to provide affordable homes, often for niche clients.

What we’re doing, however, isn’t enough. It’s not anywhere near the scale of action we need to make a dent in this crisis.

A small but worthwhile contribution to improving the supply of affordable homes – both owneroccupied and rented – is ready to roll but handbrakes are pulled on hard.

Tiny homes on wheels are growing in popularity, which is hardly surprising. They are space, time and material-efficient and have a reduced environmental impact. They can often be constructed in a week from start to finish. They are inherently mobile and support a simplified lifestyle. They’re also commonly classified as a registrable vehicle rather than a development which reduces the red and green tape burden considerably. Importantly, given a high-end brand new home would cost around $140,000, they are within budget for many when a bricks and mortar and a white picket fence is not.

Locally, the need for smaller homes is huge. This housing type isn’t for everyone, but for many it has great appeal.

Some of those keen to embrace tiny living temporarily or permanently include singles and couples starting out, older people with good mobility who crave independence, professionals and students who are in Hobart for a limited period only, and seasonal and peak demand workers, such as fruit pickers and tradespeople.

Tiny homes also have the potential to free up large family homes as share house tenants can have their own space for less.

Recognising the seriousness of the housing crisis, the benefits of tiny home living and the abundance of underutilised land we have across Hobart, we partnered with local tiny home advocate, Stewart Page, and developed a concept where underutilised land is provided at minimal cost as the location for tiny homes on wheels for a two-year period, with these homes to be offered on a two-year lease fixed at $200 a week.

The concept delivers a win-winwin-win situation. The landowner gets to positively contribute to the housing crisis while knowing their land will be returned to them so they can advance their plans for the site, property owners get a fair return on a depreciating asset, tenants get

increased access to brand new affordable homes, and the concept requires zero public funds, leaving more in the kitty for social housing.

Very early in the project we sought advice from the Hobart City Council and pushed on based on the council’s advice that the caravan bylaw would apply whereby, following environmental considerations being satisfied, the home could be occupied for two years, with the ability to seek another two-year extension.

We then pitched the concept to UTAS who saw the merits of the project and generously agreed to provide a site for a two-year period to pilot the concept. All the ducks were lining up, documents submitted, fees paid.

Then the advice from council changed and remains up in the air. Sadly, the concept is unlikely to be viable if the red and green tape burden of treating these homes as a development applies.

The uncertainty, confusion and inconsistency around this efficient, appealing and worthwhile housing type must be resolved.

Promptly addressing this issue should be high priority for local councils and the state government. There are too many benefits of this housing type to keep it wrapped up in tape, marinating in the too-hard basket.