A Movement for Change

Tiny homes on wheels are a legitamate affordable housing choice that needs to have the same security as traditional 2 or 3 bedroom home.

The People Behind the Campaign

From left to right, we have Helen, Judy Ange and Jacqueline. These amazing women have been leading the tiny community living campaign since late 2022.

Sunshine Coast Council received a complaint in early 2022 from Jacquelines's neighbour about some shipping containers on her 32-acre property in the Sunshine Coast hinterland.

Ange, with her two young boys in her tiny home on wheels, moved onto Jacqueline's property in May 2022, and Judy, in her caravan, moved onto the property in November 2022.

The tiny homes on wheels were illegal, and more show-cause notices were issued. Helen has been supporting Jacqueline during this ongoing fight with the council to keep the tiny homes on her property.

Affordable Housing

The housing and cost of-living crisis is pushing people to find other affordable housing. This has led to a growth in demand for tiny homes on wheels, caravans, and converted buses as legitimate housing choices.

Traditional housing involves coupling the house and the land; non-traditional housing involves uncoupling the land and home.

While many may be able to afford this nontraditional housing, they need somewhere to park their homes. They need a secure piece of land and a landowner to host them.

Council Regulations

Sunshine Coast Council Chambers

Councils across Australia view homes on wheels as temporary accommodation. ie. caravans. These local laws were made when they were used as temporary accommodation, living in them while building a house or travelling in them.

While some still use them temporarily, many are using them on a long-term basis as this is the only home they can afford. Council and state governments have not caught up with this change and so local laws limit the time period people can live in them.

On the Sunshine Coast, you can live in a home on wheels without a permit for 4 weeks in a 52-week period. With a permit, this is extended to 18 months. After that 18 months, you need to move onto another property and start the permit process again. Most councils across Australia have timeframes with the exception of a few in WA and VIC that have no time limit.

The Campaign

The Tiny Community Living Campaign is advocating for changes to local laws to give people who choose to live in tiny homes on wheels housing security.

We are asking Sunshine Coast Council to implement a community-proposed local law that allows the following:

  • Trialled for 5 years

  • No permit is there is an existing dwelling on the property

  • No time limit

  • A sliding scale on the number that can be park on private property depending on the size of the property; starting with one on 800sqm up to five on properties over 10 acres.

We have been using the Regen Sunshine Coast community platform to host our campaign. Please feel free to join (its free) to following the campaign and connect with like-minded people.

“Every neighborhood must be allowed to grow and change... The reality is that a place that is not changing is dying.”

— Charles Marohn