A “tiny homes” building project that would create jobs and deliver affordable housing to disadvantaged people has been proposed for Eden.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Community Training Partnerships’ business development manager Leanne Atkinson is behind the Eden Tiny Homes project which aims to be a self-funding, commercial operation – with no government handouts.
Ms Atkinson said talks had been held with Twofold Aboriginal Corporation, Eden Local Aboriginal Land Council, Mission Australia, Social Justice Advocates, TAFE and Bendigo Bank about the project.
She said a successful “pitch” for technical support to develop a business plan also had been made to the University of Sydney’s Remote and Rural Enterprise Program and four post-graduate students visited Eden last month to meet stakeholders. They will present their business plans for the project in Sydney later this month.
Ms Atkinson said that under the Eden Tiny Homes project, social housing participants would receive training to work on the various aspects of building a tiny house – from the physical building of the house through to project management, interior design and landscaping.
Participants would enter into a contractual agreement to pay back the cost of their dwelling over an agreed time, she said.
The business would also have a commercial operation to provide tiny houses for sale on the open market as a revenue source to sustain the social enterprise.
“Every tiny house sold commercially creates a training, employment and home ownership pathway for a disadvantaged person,” Ms Atkinson said.
Tiny homes were likely to appeal to people of all ages who did not want to be trapped in the rental market, she said.
The homes, although tiny, would be fully self-contained and energy efficient. Once a participant owned their own home, they could use it as an asset to “spring board” into other opportunities.
A “start-up” investment was needed to see the first few tiny homes become a reality, after which time it would be self-perpetuating.