Aussie Real Estate Podcast
Tiny Homes Australia: A Practical Housing Solution as Rental Affordability Breaks
01 Feb 2026
Chapter 1: What is the context of Australia's rental affordability crisis?
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Well, it's a Monday, February the 2nd. And unfortunately, all four major banks are now saying the Reserve Bank should lift the rates again tomorrow after the inflation came in hotter than expected late last year. The consensus is a move to 3.85%. The big question is whether this is a one-off reset or the start of something more uncomfortable for mortgage holders.
And it's on that note from mortgage holders to tiny living. Because after years of high rents, stubborn interest rates and stretched household budgets, tiny homes are no longer this novelty factor. They're a coping strategy for many people. What started probably fair to say as a fringe lifestyle choice
has quietly become this pressure valve for renters and self-employed Australians looking for affordability. You've also got to have that flexibility in the mix and a calmer way to live without leaving the country altogether. So on this note, I want to take you to Melbourne and catch up with Brad Boussatoul from Deluxe Tiny Homes. And welcome back, Brad, onto the Real Estate Breakfast podcast.
We have featured you before. Last year, we were talking all about the tiny homes. You were extremely busy and you probably would have reveled in the Christmas New Year break after all those tiny homes that you were busy making.
Hey, Greg, thanks for having me back on. Yeah, spot on. I was really looking forward to having a bit of a break, but unfortunately that wasn't the case. We were able to build 26 homes in the last 12 months. And over this break, it's just been chaos with inquiries. We're already booked out to the end of April and on track to do another 40 builds this year.
You know, as I mentioned, tomorrow looks like we might get an interest rate rise from the RBA. The banks are certainly pushing for it. This mortgage situation, it's just not going to go anywhere, particularly for first home buyers. The rise of people being interested in this type of tiny living, it's for a reason.
They've decided to, right, let's just make our space smaller and have a smaller mortgage and sort of reclaim claim our life back?
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Chapter 2: How are tiny homes becoming a coping strategy for Australians?
And a good point you mentioned there was the high cube container. A lot of people get caught out when they're trying to build a container home and they use a standard cube container, which is only 2.4 metres high. So in our containers, we use a high cube container, which is 2.9 metres. And that means you can get an internal finish height of 2.6 metres.
And that's where you can actually pass the NC rules as a 1A dwelling, where a lot of time you can't if you're just using a standard cube.
yeah and then talking about the build quality of them we build them like a normal home we do not try and make these like a typical modular home that you used to see or a lot of builders are still building we build them out of a timber frame plastered inside so when you step inside yes they are a little bit narrower but they're built and constructed just like your normal home you're living in and as you mentioned you have to sacrifice a bit of downsize to save more money
But a lot of our clients, when they do walk in, especially our models that have large windows and bolt-on outdoor areas, it is a lot more homely than most people think. And as soon as they inspect them, the stigma that they had in their head for so long goes away pretty quickly.
In terms of the building code, these would be pretty tight, you know, in terms of the airflow. You've got air conditioners in them. Are they being built slightly above what is required by the code?
They sure are. Being a container, they're already completely sealed. So if you've got a standard brick and mortar home, you've got a lot of gaps in that. In our containers, we don't have that whatsoever. We also kind of go above and beyond with the insulating qualities. Being a container, we make sure we do a moisture barrier, heavy earth, or we use underlay.
So they're heavily insulated and very well-constructed. The idea is for these to last more than 100 years. And being a container that's meant to be able to see inclusive water for 25-plus years, we see that not being an issue with our designs.
We are talking to Brad from Deluxe Tiny Homes this morning. This is something that might be in the back of your mind, you know. Do you want to add something to the back of the yard? When we come back, we'll talk a little bit about mum and dad buying something for the kids, putting a shipping container, one of these 40-foot high cubes, on the backyard. We're back after this.
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Chapter 3: What insights does Brad from Deluxe Tiny Homes share about tiny home demand?
Yes, let's get down to mum and dad. This is a big concern. It's a struggle. This has been in action over the last five, even 10 years, but especially since COVID, mum and dad trying to get their kids into a property. Tell us if you've got an example of that where
a mum and dad has come to you and said look we are just pulling our hair out we don't know what to do this could be an option for us they sit down they go through the numbers they talk to you suddenly it's an illumination yeah definitely and we're seeing it happen more and more often at the moment we've even got one client we're about to start building for and they've done the same thing they've just built a brand new home but because it was a small parcel of land the house size isn't massive so we're actually building one putting it in the backyard for their daughters to live
And I think things have really changed in the last 10 years. 10 years, your kid used to turn 18 and you say, right, time to get into the real world, look for your own place. But the way the housing market is at the moment with rent just not being affordable, I'm seeing so many more parents come to me and not even the children that are coming to me.
It's the parents themselves saying, look, they want to give their kids a bit of a head start. They want them to start living by themselves, but I know they can't afford rent. So they're putting one of these in their backyard for three, four, five years until they save up.
And then they can repurpose that unit as well as put a roof over their kid's head and help them kind of grow in the market themselves.
I think one of the other things too, when it comes to the backyard, a lot of people, they might have their backyard completely closed off and they're thinking, well, there's no way that we can get a completed shipping container on our backyard. There is absolutely no access.
One of the things I think is a positive because you're building these offsite, you're able to crane them in right over the house if necessary. Have I got that right?
Yeah, yeah, that's spot on. And a lot of people do think that there's not really an option, but we've got so much technology with cranes and front of trucks and that kind of thing that there usually is nine times out of 10 always going to be an option. And the good thing is because we build them offsite, our foot traffic is very minimal.
The install usually only takes a day or two and all the other works are completed offsite. So it's simply just doing some footings, the electrical and plumbing and then craning it in and it's pretty much ready to go.
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