Australian Tiny Home Pods have now created the VERY FIRST Tiny House in Australia that is actually a Code Assessable, Removable Class 1a Residential Dwelling. The Origin of My Social Enterprise
We have just recently launched our official website (australiantinyhomepods.com.au), which has been 6 months in the making. The original idea of Australian Tiny Home Pods (hereafter ATHP) was conceived duri
ng my trip to Central America, where I observed that the demise of the very successful ancient Maya civilisation, was brought about by their own practices that led to substantial changes in their environment and eventually the local climate. I saw the parallels with our own current environmental/climate situation and concluded that we need fast solutions to the galloping crisis of our time. The Purposes of ATHP
The environmental footprint is at the heart of our mission. The big picture is also factored in, in terms of sustainable land use, low impact living, minimum household energy consumption and accessibility. In summary, ATHP is predicated on the needs to:
minimise our footprint on Earth
provide solutions to housing affordability
create sustainable and inclusive living situations to combat homelessness, poverty, expansion of urban and rural areas, natural disaster impacts, displacement and every kind of housing challenge that faces our communities at present. How We Achieve the Above: Our Flagship Product
We have created Australia’s very first Tiny Home Pod Code Assessable, Class 1a Removable Residential Dwelling. What that means is, unlike other tiny houses that are on wheels (i.e they are vehicles), Home Loans with low interest rates are available. As well, First Home Owner Grants can be claimed if eligible. On the environmental side, it is Category 4 Cyclone Proof and BAL-40 Bushfire proof. It’s White Ant and Termite proof and has a NatHERS 8+ Star energy rating. Moreover, there are several living green walls inside the home. A complete self-sufficient off-grid home is available too. Our Tiny Home Pods are affordable to young people and vulnerable populations such as single parents with children or single women over the age of 50. They are removable, so they can be placed in the backyard of an existing house or on the land of an acreage property, creating dual or communal living, legally. We envisage that the lifestyle of our Tiny Home Pods will not only help solve housing affordability and homelessness problems, but also promote positive mental health because everyone in the society has a home and belongs. There are multiple projections for potential uses for these Tiny Home Pods, including collectives and community housing. We aim to start production in early 2023 first on the Sunshine Coast. Rather than constructing each home individually, our goal is to streamline production so that many homes can be produced in a shorter timeframe. Ideally that would be 3-4 per day in peak production as opposed to the 4 - 6 week period required to construct regular a Tiny Home. This production line approach will bring employment opportunities with it. In the long term, ATHP will generate many more job opportunities as we expand our branches to other areas, contributing to economy. The mission of ATHP is to provide affordable housing to help address the social, cultural and environmental stresses that are impacting negatively on our communities and their sense of well-being. Whether it is creating inclusive communities or minimizing our footprint, by thinking outside the box, we are able to design a product that could offer multiple solutions to a wide variety of social issues. Once in production, there are also plans to diversify into speciality housing for disabled and elderly clients amongst other groups. The project will propel ATHP to the manufacturing stage, setting a solid foundation for scaling the business where our Tiny Home Pods will be made widely available. Of the 9 Objectives of the Queensland Government, we are addressing 7 of them.
Growing our regions: The success of ATHP will be the success of Sunshine Coast and any other areas that we establish production in Queensland. ATHP’s mission is strongly aligned with the goals of regional areas to expand sustainably and to enrich cultural life and economic prosperity. Because ATHP’s vision is to produce a high quality, well-designed product, it will be a hub of expertise and innovation.
Safeguarding our health: One of ATHP’s core values is optimum well-being for occupants. The environmentally sensitive design of these two-bedroom Pods provides safety and comfort. They are cost-effective to live in. Without the burden of 30 years of mortgage, particularly for those on fixed low incomes, people will have more opportunities to participate more fully in the community they live in, contributing to positive mental and physical health outcomes. They will also be more insulated from the poverty cycle and all of its negative health implications.
Supporting jobs: The vision of ATHP is to have many hubs producing tiny homes around the State as a response to the Homeless and Housing Affordability crisis, leading to multiple opportunities for local employment. We will also collaborate with TAFE and offer apprenticeships to support young people transitioning into the job force.
Backing small business (and Growing our Regions): ATHP will leverage other small businesses for both their skills and products to build our Pods. By setting up around the State, we are also able to diversify, bringing growth back to the Regions and keeping people there. Housing Affordability has made it hard to keep staff available for business.
Making it for Queensland: Our flagship product is a first of its kind in the building industry in Australia. We will have qualified people with building licenses to build our innovative Pods. Moreover, we can prefab these homes in a controlled environment, producing them a lot cheaper with better quality, more sustainably, efficiently and quickly—all starting in Queensland.
Investing in skills: The specialised nature of this product will inevitably lead to skill building as expertise is redeveloped in relation to the particular requirements of our Pods. Training of skilled workers through apprenticeships, as discussed will contribute to the skill pool. Furthermore, as 3D printing comes into the Home Building Sector in the next 5 – 10 years, we are both planning for the use of this technology as well as reskilling our staff to use this technology.
Protecting the environment: ATHP’s purposes are to deliver sustainable solutions that can address a multitude of housing issues. All the environmental-friendly features of our Pods mentioned are designed to achieve minimising footprint thus protecting the environment, anywhere in the Country.
