Drought, pandemic-affected Australian farmers become ‘micro-hoteliers’, creating tiny home oases on rural properties
Thinking about your next big adventure? Then think small ... like the thousands of Australians who helped turn tiny homes into big business for many struggling farmers.
Australian farmers and landowners are becoming “micro hoteliers”, leasing tiny homes to travellers on their rural properties to supplement income lost as a result of drought and the pandemic.
Tiny Away, which sets up fully-furnished mobile accommodation on private properties for holiday rentals, saw a 30 per cent increase in inquiries to purchase the unique accommodation for holiday leasing in the second half of 2020.
The company shares up to 45 per cent of the profit from each booking made with the landowner, who can also invite guests to take part in activities on their property.
Fernando Espindola, who raises alpaca at his farm in Mudgee, now hosts three Tiny Away homes on his 300-acre property to supplement his regular income.
The farmer and beekeeper has also started offering personalised wine tours of the Mudgee region, as well as honey making experiences, to guests of the small homes.
The three-year-old company, which builds the eco-friendly homes in Australia from sustainable materials, has placed tiny homes on 65 properties around Australia including the Blue Mountains, Hunter Valley, Barrington Tops, and the Southern Highlands in NSW and the Great Ocean Road, Macedon Ranges, Gippsland and Mornington Peninsula in Victoria.
Each mini abode boasts hot showers, airconditioning and environmentally sustainable amenities such as waterless compost toilets, rainwater collection tanks and solar panels.
Globally, the tiny homes market is expected to grow by $7.48 billion during 2020-2024.
Tiny Away co-founder Jeff Yeo said the pandemic and boom in domestic tourism had seen demand for tiny house accommodation in Australia increase dramatically.
“When restrictions eased in June 2020, in that month alone, we saw a 200 per cent increase in the number of bookings,” he said.
“At the end of 2020, we saw a 660 per cent increase in bookings compared to the first, pre-Covid, quarter of the year.
“In Victoria in particular, we saw a huge increase in bookings. Our Serenity Abode tiny house in the Yarra Valley had an increase of around 40 per cent compared to pre-Covid.”