Big plan for tiny housing
Small wonder in north
TINY houses are making a big impression on the property market in Geelong’s north.
A pair of single-bedroom space-saving units are set to be the latest to be built, with the City of Greater Geelong receiving a planning application for the development on Quebec Ave in Corio.
Planning documents reveal plans to subdivide an existing property in the heart of Corio to keep the existing house, while building the two singlebedroom units on plots of about 120-130sq m at the rear.
The designs — from Melbourne-based builder Small Change Design and Construction — have been promoted as addressing the need for more single-person households.
“The design response provides for two additional dwellings unit two (two storey) and unit three (single storey) that are each one bedroom which addresses the housing needs of a growing demographic (single person households) which is often not catered for with infill development in this area,” planning documents note.
“The proposal is for two one-bedroom dwellings — one single storey and one twostorey, both freestanding.
“This will facilitate an increase in housing choice, the more efficient use of existing infrastructure and provide a dwelling type that is not well catered for in the area.
“It is well documented that single and two-person households are our fasted growing demographic and single bedroom houses (as opposed to apartments) are in significant demand to meet the changing demographic.”
The Small Change Design and Construction units would not be the builder’s first in Geelong, with Director Sally Wills building her own 57sq m tiny house in Norlane on a 180sq m block.
“If you say ‘I have got a 57square metre house’, it sounds terrible,” she told the Addy in December. “But people are really pleasantly surprised when they walk in.
“It’s what you would call an apartment house. In terms of size it’s similar to what you might find in a one-bedroom apartment, but it’s a freestanding home on its own land.
“I think there is a niche market for smaller houses. There’s obviously older people that want to downsize but who still want to be on their own land, and there’s also young people who are struggling to afford a house but who are already comfortable with living in smaller spaces like apartments.”