Tiny Houses on Wheels pilot program hoped to help with affordable housing, key worker accommodation crisis

A new pilot program for tiny houses on wheels will be trialled in the Surf Coast, but an advocacy body says more than “band-aid” fixes are needed. TAKE OUR POLL

Surf Coast Shire council will run a Tiny Houses on Wheels pilot for three years to December 2026. Picture: Aussie Tiny Houses

A new pilot program for tiny houses on wheels is the next step in Surf Coast Shire council’s efforts to find solutions to the affordable housing and key worker accommodation crisis.

Surf Coast council have opened applications for its Tiny Houses on Wheels (THOWs) pilot in the shire, as it continues to seek solutions to the crisis.

Mayor Liz Pattison said she looked forward to seeing the three-year program’s options explored across the shire.

She said she was proud of the shire’s proactivity in the space, as it’s among the first councils to endorse a tiny house pilot.

“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,” she said.

“We’re among the first councils in Australia to endorse a tiny houses pilot, and we’re proud to be proactive in this space to provide key workers with a potential accommodation solution.

“It could also enable residents – some who might currently be living in unaffordable or unsuitable housing – to stay in their community close to their jobs, social networks and family.”

Ms Pattison said the pilot added to other council initiatives in the space.

Council to Homeless Persons chief executive Deborah Di Natale said the “emergency measure” of the tiny houses “speaks volumes about the desperate crisis we’re facing”.

Ms Di Natale said Victoria needed at least 6000 public and community dwellings built each year for a decade.

“Instead of leaving it to councils to come up with well-intentioned band-aid solutions, the state government must urgently build more social housing,” she said.

“That investment must be targeted to where it’s most needed including areas like the Surf Coast and Geelong.

“A chronic underinvestment in social housing has forced councils into trying solutions like these.

“Areas like the Surf Coast and Geelong are living through the worst housing crisis in living memory thanks to a shocking lack of safe and stable housing that keeps a roof over people’s heads in the long term.”

Ms Pattison said the pilot focused entirely on possibilities for affordable housing and key worker accommodation, and would not permit the tiny houses on wheels for short-term leisure-style accommodation.

The pilot will run until December 2026, and council will consult directly with participants and neighbouring properties during the pilot, to help develop processes and policies to potentially regulate THOWs in the future.

For more information visit surfcoast.vic.gov.au/THOWs.

Originally published as Tiny Houses on Wheels pilot program hoped to help with affordable housing, key worker accommodation crisis