Housing crisis forces Ipswich pensioner into portable home

A Karalee couple has reached out to a woman who lost her house to the public trust

Cheryl Thompson, 72, lost her home to the public trust but has managed to find a way to keep a roof over her head.

AN IPSWICH woman who lost her home to the public trust has managed to find a way to keep a roof over her head.

Cheryl Thomspon, 72, is preparing to move her world from her Karana Downs house into a tiny home, one suburb over.

Facing an unaffordable property market and ruthless rental prices, the pensioner began thinking outside the square in search for a home.

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When her house went under contract to be sold, she urged anyone with land she could build on or a small accommodation she could buy to contact her.

In exchange, the landowners would be able to keep the tiny home in future.

A Karalee couple reached out to Cheryl, after reading of her struggle to find somewhere to live.

“They’ve got a bit of land that goes up the side of their house and they’re quite happy for me to put a tiny home next to their house,” Cheryl said.

“I’ve just got to make sure I can get a cement slab put down now.”

Cheryl found a tiny home for sale in an Ipswich town, which she will buy and move to the land.

“It’s the shape of a shipping container but it’s built out of steel and insulated, with panelling on the inside,” she said.

“It’s going to have red cedar cladding on the outside over half of it – it will look nice.”

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Cheryl said the woman selling the home would be able to help her transport it.

“It’s pretty good, actually – it will have a little kitchen, a little bathroom, toilet, cupboard, storage,” she said.

“It will all be ready to live in.”

Cheryl is hoping she and her French Bulldog Bodhi will be able to move in within the next three weeks.

“I’ll have to be out of my house by March 25 because the sale has gone unconditional now,” she said.

“So hopefully it will all be ready by then.”

Read more news by Ebony Graveur.

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