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At the moment there is no uniform law when it comes to tiny houses in Australia.
Each state has different rules, and many councils have their own guidelines which must be met.
Some general rules by state are below:
NEW SOUTH WALES
A tiny house can be either:
A- a small dwelling house under 50m2 built on the lot; or
B – a small dwelling house built on a trailer (similar to a caravan).
As the tiny house is built on a trailer it has the capability of being registered under the Road Transport Act. Tiny dwellings can be designed and built using green principles and provide affordable housing whilst minimising the urban footprint.
They are emerging in varying forms and locations, such as granny flats (or secondary dwellings) to complement existing housing, groupings of dwellings in established urban areas, converted sheds and beach shacks on larger, isolated properties, and in mobile caravan formats.
In most cases, if a tiny house is RMS registered as a trailer, no DA approval is required to put it in your backyard or on your property, if you meet certain exemptions.
In summary, NSW legislation may permit you to have no more than two caravans, campervans or tents if you plan for someone to stay in them for a short-term (up to 48 hours at a time) for no more than 60 days a year.
Or you can have no more than one caravan, campervan or tent if you plan to have someone that is a member of your household live in it on a long-term basis, only when you have an approved dwelling house already on the lot. The tiny house is to be maintained in a safe and healthy condition.
Or you plan to use it on pastoral or agricultural land, so long as it is merely occupied seasonally by persons employed in pastoral or agricultural operations on the land.
Source: Lake Macquarie Council
QUEENSLAND
Options include:
1) Setting up in the backyard
A tiny house on the same lot as a ‘main dwelling’ can be classified as a granny flat. Granny flats have their own size and structure regulations (set by the local council).
While you’ll need to get a granny flat approved by a private certifier, you won’t necessarily have to get council approval, which is a huge advantage of choosing this option.
Just be careful that the combined number of occupants in the tiny house and main property doesn’t exceed the local council’s limits. In Brisbane, for example, only five unrelated people are allowed to dwell on the same lot.
2) Setting up on a vacant lot
If you build your tiny house on a vacant lot, you’ll need to have your construction approved by the local council. This means you’ll have to conform to the building codes that apply to regular houses including minimum sizes, smoke alarm rules, plumbing and electrical standards and more.
3) On wheels
Once your home has wheels it is no longer a ‘permanent structure’ and instead is classified as a caravan or light truck.
No matter where you roam in Australia, you’ll need to comply with the Motor Vehicle Standards Act 1989.
In addition to this, you’ll need to comply with state laws relating to movable dwellings. In Queensland, these include the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008 and the Transport Operations (Road Use Management) Act 1995.
Source: Phoenix Law
VICTORIA
There are currently three main options in Victoria for locating a tiny house:
1) In a backyard as a ‘dependent person’s unit’. More commonly known as a ‘granny flat’, the unit must be moveable and house a genuine dependent.
2) As an approved second dwelling on your lot. This option requires a planning permit as well as compliance with Rescode and the building code. This option is difficult, if not impossible, to achieve as current planning policies refer to dwellings of regular size rather than tiny houses and the creation of tiny house lots would be similarly onerous.
3) In a caravan park — caravan parks are rare in urban areas and often lack amenity.
Source: Hansen
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