Tiny homes to the rescue

Once upon a time, the great Australian dream of owning a home was attainable. A house in Sydney 20 years ago costs just over $A200,000. Today, a decent pad in the city will set you back over $1 million.

In fact, according to the US Demographia 2017 report, Sydney was ranked the second least affordable city in the world to buy a house.

It is no wonder that more and more millennials are simply giving up on purchasing a home altogether and are preparing themselves for a lifetime ahead of renting.

That's unless they are willing to consider a smaller home. A much, much smaller home.

The micro homes trend has been around in the US and Hong Kong for quite some time, where housing affordability issues have long plagued its citizens. With the crisis becoming more and more rampant on home soil, it is perhaps only a matter of time before tiny homes start sprouting up around the country.

In fact, a number of companies in Australia have already been established to help Australians realise their slowly fading dreams of owning their own homes.

One organisation, Big World Homes, offers a solution which it claims can cut up to 80 per cent of the typical costs associated with constructing a similar stand-alone dwelling.

Its homes are designed to be off-grid and require no customisation to operate. The homes are completely disconnected from town power, water and waste; and instead of using plastics, fibreglass and glues; each Big World Home is made from sustainably sourced plywood.

The result is 13.75 square metres of natural timber finishes, high ceilings, a shower, toilet, open plan kitchen and living room which converts to a bedroom at night - for $65,000. The homes can be ordered online and arrive flat-packed and can be built by two people over a few days using simple tools.

On the surface, there appears to be multiple benefits of living in tiny houses as opposed to traditional homes. For starters, you’d be relieved of the debt associated with owning a big house.

Tiny houses are often cheaper to build and they have fewer heating and cooling costs. A young person or couple can also increase their savings until they are ready to own a proper, bigger home. And it seems to be the ultimate way to declutter and live more sustainably.

Another Australian-owned business, The Tiny House Company, builds micro homes or "pods" that it says are compact, affordable, transportable, and built to last. Their pods are designed to work with standard sized modules of IKEA furniture and cabinetry and suit a range of optional pre-designed extras that can be added as your budget allows.

The homes use solar power, rain water and cylinder gas for day-to-day operations. And it will cost just $79,000.

"Our 'love of spacious housing' is not entirely the case," says The Tiny House Company co-founder, Lara Nobel.

"I believe there are many people who are in large houses because that is all that was available, or they once needed the space but not anymore - and it is not necessarily their ideal."

As much as micro homes can help solve the housing affordability crisis, some believe they can fix a more serious issue – homelessness.

J & J Renovating Builders has built a fully-furnished tiny house prototype equipped with heating, cooling and plumbing. The company plans to discuss a long-term strategy with state government officials over the coming weeks to make its homes accessible to homeless people across Australia.

"What better way to help struggling homeless people other than supplying them with a house!" J & J Renovating Builders co-founder, Jim Dimitrovski, told constructionsales.com.au.

"Our tiny homes are cheap, comfortable and cost-effective. They give people a safe space to live and sleep in and a sense of pride of having somewhere to call home. The benefits of the tiny homes are endless."

Although the construction of tiny homes seems feasible, there are certainly hurdles to overcome. The most pressing issue is perhaps where to put the homes, and how they fit into existing Australian housing regulations.

"Planning rules across the councils throughout Australia are very inconsistent when it comes to caravans and tiny houses. This is one of the biggest challenges for the idea," says The Tiny House Company's Lara Nobel.

Red tape aside, and on a more personal note, to live in such a small space certainly requires a certain amount of commitment and sacrifice. You will need to be committed to leading a much simpler life, and considerably downsize from a traditional home. This can be daunting for some.

But as Leonardo Da Vinci once said: Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. Could he have been on to something?