“Although tiny houses have been lauded for being affordable, sustainable and downright cute, Paton explains they are “neither legal nor illegal”, existing outside standard building codes, so when it comes to getting council permission for a permanent one, the process remains as clear as mud, particularly in urban areas.”
Why Elle Paton wants everyone to visit her tiny house in Melbourne (DOMAIN, 20 APRIL 2021)
‘It isn’t a move for the faint hearted’: Aussies describe what it’s really like living in a tiny home (BUSINESS INSIDER, 3i DECEMBER 2020)
“Tiny houses have grown in popularity throughout Australia and are showing no signs of slowing down.”
We are always excited to work with sustainability innovators and Elle Paton definitely falls into that category. Elle is passionate about tiny homes. She is one of the founders of Tiny, a non-profit organisation dedicated to proving the viability of tiny homes as a housing alternative in Australia.
She isn't only talking the talk, she is walking the walk.
Tiny home with foodcubes demonstrating sustainable living in st kilda (Biofilta News, 30 october 2020)
The tiny house movement has been a hit as holiday accomodation, now the first has been approved for long term residency in the city.
Tiny house APPROVED FOR LONG TERM RESIDENCY IN THE CITY (CHANNEL NINE NEWS, 23 february 2020)
Elle Paton (of Tiny Non-profit) has just moved into a new house that is not much bigger than a caravan. Yet she could not be more pleased.
Ms Paton discarded many of her belongings before moving into her tiny house, which is just over 20 square metres in total.
“There is a part of me that is still nervous about my wardrobe,” she said. “I’m going to have to downsize just a little bit more than I was expecting.”
Port Phillip Council believes the tiny house in St Kilda is among the first approved as a long-term permanent private residence in an urban setting, although they are growing in popularity as holiday accommodation.
Tiny house means big lifestyle change in St Kilda (the age, 22 february 2020)
Marie Kondo has nothing on Elle Paton.
Elle is currently selling and donating most of the possessions she’s accumulated over the past 25 years to downsize and become Australia’s newest guinea pig in tiny-house living.
The tiny house she will live in for at least the next two years is set to arrive on an empty block in St Kilda at the end of this month and will eventually include a community garden too.
TINY HOUSE EXPERIMENT COMES TO ST KILDA (sustainable port phillip, 4 february 2020)
Tiny Non-Profit is devoted to making tiny houses a common and legal form of dwelling. The group lobbies local councils to include tiny homes in their development schemes. With the homes legally regulated, banks and insurers can value them and provide financing for buyers.
“I think with the passion that exists around tiny houses,” Katherine Leong of Tiny Non-Profit told the ABC, “I find it very hard to believe that we wouldn’t see more tiny houses.”
Tiny houses usher in a new way of living (VENTURE MAGAZINE, 13 AUGUST 2019)
The Morrison government wants to make tiny homes a bigger deal.
Industry Minister Karen Andrews, a self-described fan of tiny homes, says she wants to see the prefabricated building sector grow by $30 billion over the next five years. The sector currently makes up about three to five per cent of Australia's $150 billion construction industry, but Ms Andrews says it could grow to 15 per cent by 2025.
Morrison government's bid to grow tiny home industry (SMH, 16 june 2019)
Australian Tiny House Association secretary, Jan Stewart, said the pint-sized homes are gaining popularity but laws were yet to catch up here.
Bunnings flatpack homes fly off the shelves – but only in New Zealand (the guardian, 24 may 2019)
Castlemaine District Community Health has developed a project proposal to help those who are homeless, but it needs help.
Tiny homes to tackle homelessness (midland express, 17 april 2019)
Tiny Non-profit board member and Tiny House on Wheels (THOW) advocate Katherine Leong said without legislation, tiny houses on wheels were treated like caravans.
"Which means there's a limited time people can actually stay on their properties and live in it," she said. This presented a major problem for anyone wanting to actually make a life in a tiny house on wheels. Newer to Australia, these cute little homes are more commonly seen in Netflix shows and Instagram posts, not legal planning documents.
Ms Leong said by choice or by circumstance, Australia would have to start seriously considering unconventional housing methods such as tiny homes on wheels. "The quarter-acre lot with the big backyard and the large house with the growing family doesn't seem to be as accessible to people as it once was," she said.
"Financing … I think that's another change that needs to happen is to understand what tiny houses are and how they should be valued so that insurers and banks can actually lend money to people who want to build or actually buy tiny houses."
But she agreed it was only a matter of time. "I think with the passion that exists around tiny houses, I find it very hard to believe that we wouldn't see more tiny houses," she said. Read the full article here.
tiny homes all the rage (abc, 23 sep 2018)
Aussie homes are among the biggest in the world. But more and more of us are now squeezing into tiny spaces — for good reason.
The average new home in Australia is 189.8sq m — but now, more and more of us are moving into houses a fraction of that size.
That’s thanks to the “tiny house” movement — a concept which has seen scores of Australians and people from all over the world reject traditional homes in favour of more minimal living.
While there’s no set definition of tiny houses, they are generally custom-made, transportable and less than 46 sq. m. Read more here.
Experts reveal why so many Australians are embracing the ‘tiny house’ movement (news.com.au, 15 August 2018)
With one Castlemaine agency advocating tiny houses (with Tiny Non-profit) as a means to help solve homelessness, local government leaders on Friday lunched with an international housing expert to hear about how Finland has all but eradicated rough sleeping.
finishing the homeless problem (MIDLAND EXPRESS, 15 AUGUST 2018)
BIG PROMISES, TINY HOMES (BLUENOTES ANZ, 13 JULY 2018)
The ‘tiny house’ movement in Australia is growing, fuelled by Instagram feeds of beautifully crafted little dwellings in serene settings and, more recently, a display of tiny homes in the carpark at Bunnings, Port Melbourne.
Tiny houses are touted as a solution to homelessness, housing affordability, environmental sustainability and a haven for those craving a simpler, minimal lifestyle. These are big promises.
Tiny houses are not new. The beach shack, the bungalow, the granny flat, the back shed are all previous incarnations. Modern tiny houses, however, are different in one important way, according Jan Stewart, co-founder of advocacy group for tiny homes Tiny Non-Profit. Read more here.
these are beautiful houses: why is the law so tough on tiny homes (domain, 10 may 2018)
Pressure is mounting on local and state governments across the country to relax their planning regulations for tiny houses, the small-scale living concept that has garnered feverish interest...
Ms Bares and Ms Trivic, both speakers at a Melbourne Knowledge Week event on tiny houses this weekend, are pushing to establish a set of guidelines for their design and construction. Read more here.
tiny solutions for big problems (pro bono australia, 17 april 2018)
According to the co-founders of Tiny Non-profit, “a tiny non-profit making tiny homes happen in Australia”, tiny houses offer an alternative model of sustainable, affordable and self-sufficient housing that could offer solutions across a broad range of social issues.
As part of Melbourne Knowledge Week in May, Tiny Non-profit has organised a series of talks and events, under the heading Tiny Solutions, to demonstrate how tiny homes do more with less, while catering to a broad range of community needs.
Co-founders Jan Stewart and Elle Paton told Pro Bono News tiny houses “tick all the boxes”. Read more here.
Tiny house movement becomes a bigger player (the fifth estate, 11 april 2018)
Big Tiny, Tiny Footprint, Tiny House2Go, Tiny Consulting, Tiny Go Lightly. The names are too cute to be true but according to Jan Stewart, cofounder of Tiny Non-profit, an advocacy group for tiny homes in Australia, there’s a small industry of tiny home builders springing up around Australia. An educated guess, she says, would put the figure for these homes at about 150 Australia-wide, but interest is growing.
Thousands of people visit tiny home open home events like the one she and her partners are organising, as part of Melbourne Knowledge Week next month. Three tiny homes have been towed in and will be on display. Read more here.