Tiny Houses: Anchor homeless support service plan to combat lack of emergency housing

A HOMELESSNESS agency wants the controversial international trend of tiny houses to be used to combat a lack of emergency housing in Melbourne.

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A HOMELESSNESS organisation wants to use tiny houses to combat a lack of emergency housing in the outer east.

Homeless support service Anchor is looking to the growing international lifestyle trend, which has grown in popularity in the US, New Zealand and Australia, to plug a hole in temporary housing.

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Anchor will work with Wesburn company Miamia Tiny Houses to get philanthropic funding for two houses on specialised trailers to sit on public or church land.

Anchor chief executive Heidi Tucker said the organisation planned to use the compact living spaces as temporary housing to give people a few months of respite while support organisations provided support.

A Yarra Valley company has been building tiny houses. Picture: Stuart Milligan

“Tiny houses are incredibly flexible because you can move the homes from one place to another in Yarra Ranges and Maroondah in vacant land, whether council or church, depending on the needs of people,” Ms Tucker said.

In 2016-17, 991 people visited Anchor’s Lilydale office seeking immediate accommodation but only 445 of those got a place in motels and caravan parks, Ms Tucker said.

The number of people sleeping rough, in cars or tents had risen from about 100 to 250 from 2015-16 to 2016-17, she said.

“These numbers are startling in eastern Melbourne, where people would presume the community was doing well,” she said.

Ms Tucker said that in 2016-17, the service was also able to temporarily house more than 400 people for three months or more.

But she said many people missed out.

“Priority is given to the increasing number of women and children escaping violence,” Ms Tucker said.

Ms Tucker said Anchor would like to have the tiny house project going by next year.

“The only thing stopping us is money,” she said.

Yarra Ranges Cr Tim Heenan said he would take the idea to the council, and thought tiny living was the way of the future.