Tiny Houses on Wheels Pilot starts in the Surf Coast Shire

Council’s Tiny Houses on Wheels Pilot is building another affordable housing option so more people can live in the Surf Coast Shire, according to Deans Marsh resident Adam Hickman.

Applications are open for our three-year Tiny Houses on Wheels (THOWs) Pilot as we continue to seek solutions to the affordable housing and key worker accommodation crisis.

Adam (pictured left) previously lived in a tiny house on wheels short-term before his young family built a low-waste, low-impact straw bale house in Deans Marsh.

“Affordability and flexibility were two main benefits for us,” he said of his tiny house on wheels experience. “It also allowed us to minimise what we needed to live, and we were fully off-grid.”

Living sustainably is a passion for Adam, who has carved a career from it as founder of Surf Coast-based Evergreen Homes Australia which builds tiny homes.

“The Tiny Houses on Wheels Pilot is bringing another option into the current market,” he said. “It’s going to mean that more people can afford to live here, including those who grew up here but haven’t been able to stay because of the housing crisis. It’ll also help tourism and hospitality workers.”

The pilot will enable us to assess the impacts of tiny houses on wheels and monitor and evaluate the contribution they could make as a safe and legal way to provide affordable and diverse housing options.

THOWs will be required to be on a wheeled trailer base and placed on privately-owned land, subject to an agreement between the applicant and land owner.

Assessment criteria include legal compliance, environmental impacts, amenity, access, waste management, connection to services and utilities, and safety. The tiny house must not be located in a Flooding Overlay or Bushfire Management Overlay, unless within a township boundary.

If successful, applicants will be granted a Temporary Residence Permit under our Community Amenity Local Law 2021.

We will consult directly with participants and neighbouring properties during the pilot, to help develop processes and policies to potentially regulate THOWs in the future.

The pilot focuses entirely on possibilities for affordable housing and key worker accommodation, and does not permit the tiny houses on wheels for short-term leisure-style accommodation.

The pilot was launched two days before the Victorian Government made it easier for people to build a small second home. A permanent small second home up to 60 square metres - also known as a granny flat or secondary dwelling - no longer requires a planning permit in most cases where there are no flooding, bushfire, environmental or other special planning controls. It still requires a building permit.

Both our pilot and the state government changes are providing people with further options for affordable housing in the Surf Coast Shire.

Get more information about the Tiny Houses on Wheels Pilot including the application checklist, process, and FAQs.