New wave of Geelong tiny home builders offer young buyers hope

Builder Jason O’Neill, pictured with dog Goldie, has almost finished his first tiny home ahead of the Geelong Tiny Home Expo. Picture: Alison Wynd

After years of travelling the globe, Ayla Rose sees a tiny home as her ticket to finally securing a place of her own.

The Aireys Inlet woman is eagerly awaiting construction of her first compact residence, which will be built on wheels for the fraction the cost of a traditional house.

“Being minimalist and having a small space appeals to me because large houses can be quite hard to take care of and they can be quite expensive,” she said.

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“Being on the younger end of the millennials, for our generation it’s so hard to get into any house market and the other alternative is that you are renting for a lot of your life.

“For me, it all comes down to simplicity.”

She’s one of a growing number of younger Australians turning to portable and modular homes to combat the housing affordability crisis.

Builder Jason O’Neill is bringing her design to life after recently making the switch from constructing larger custom homes to the tiny home sector with the launch of his Little Luxe House range.

He said delivering quality, customised tiny homes could be a game changer for younger people priced out of the property market.

Surf Coast woman Ayla Rose loves the flexibility and affordability of the tiny house concept.

They can expect to pay between $70,000 and $180,000 for one of his designs, which range from 11.5sq m to 21sq m.

“Let’s say they spent $100,000 to $150,000 on a tiny home – it’s basically an up-market caravan – they pay that off,” Mr O’Neill said.

“When they sell that they should get pretty close to what they paid for it and there’s their deposit to enter the real home market.”

He’s just putting the finishing touches on his first model in time for this weekend’s Geelong Tiny Home Expo at the Geelong Racecourse.

Space saving features include a loft bedroom accessed via stairs that fold against a wall.

Mr O’Neill’s first tiny house model has a Nordic-inspired interior. Picture: Alison Wynd

The design will be one of more than 30 homes, including shipping container and modular granny flats, on display at the event, which runs from Friday, September 5 to Sunday, September 7.

Expo organiser Phae Barrett said tiny homes could be completed in as little as four weeks.

“I get a lot of comments that it would be like living in a caravan but I can’t begin to tell you how non-caravany they are,” Ms Barrett said.

“They have real furniture and they are way more homely … you will be stunned by how luxurious the tiny houses are.”

She said the biggest challenge was finding suitable land for people to park their tiny homes, with councils slow to get on board.

The tiny home comes with a stylish bathroom. Picture: Alison Wynd

The Surf Coast Shire launched a Tiny Homes Trial in late 2023 but has had minimal uptake, with only five permits issued so far.

Placemaking and Environment general manager Chris Pike said this could possibly be due to Victorian Government introducing a streamlined approach to small second dwellings soon after the trial began.

He said preliminary finding pointed to other possible deterrents, including the additional cost of managing wastewater.

“Tiny homes are unlikely to be a stand-alone solution to housing affordability or workforce accommodation challenges, but they may be worth considering as part of a broader mix of housing options,” Mr Pike said.

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