The ABC has published another story touting tiny houses as “one way young people can afford real estate”:
For Lucy and Jonty, the cost of their tiny house was around $120,000, including solar panels.
That compares to the median Hobart dwelling value of $574,543, according to CoreLogic figures from May…
It means they’re now committed to a seven-year loan, instead of staring down the barrel of a 30-year mortgage.
“Tiny houses offer an affordable living solution that gives you everything you need for a much lower price,” Jonty said.
“In a way, that’s different to any kind of system we currently have.”
The ABC really needs to look at the definition of real estate, which “is the land along with any permanent improvements attached to the land, whether natural or man-made—including water, trees, minerals, buildings, homes, fences, and bridges”.
Tiny houses are by definition not real estate as they do not include the land. They are for all intents and purposes glorified caravans or mobile homes.
Travel throughout Australia and you will find caravan parks providing long-term leases to the poorest and most marginalised in society. You also won’t find any actual home ownership or real estate, since there is no land and no title.
In reality, tiny houses are a marketing con to dress up something old and depressing – i.e. caravan parks used to house the poor – into something that is exciting and new. Add into the mix the term “sustainable living” and you have all the ingredients needed to dupe the public into believing that tiny homes are a genuine solution to Australia’s broken housing system.
If tiny homes represented a genuine solution to Australia’s housing woes, then why haven’t we witnessed a stampede of people seeking to live in caravan parks?
The fact that such parks are used as emergency accommodation for poor people reveals the true merits of tiny home living. It’s better than homelessness, but not much else.
Ultimately, delivering affordable housing requires genuine policies such as property tax reforms, enforcing a sustainable population policy, freeing up urban land supply and planning, and increasing investment in social housing.
Sadly, it is easier to spruik gimmicks like tiny houses than undertaking genuine housing policy action.
