Tiny houses to help ease housing crisis as Ravensthorpe council gives green light in new policy

A Goldfields-Esperance shire has become one of WA’s tiny home trailblazers as the council gives the green light for the compact dwellings to be used as long-term housing. New Shire of Raventhorpe regulations mean tiny houses — dwellings smaller than 50sqm built on wheeled trailer bases — are no longer subject to the three-months-a-year residency limit that applies to caravans. The changes come after the shire unanimously passed policies introducing new guidelines for tiny houses and chalets at its council meeting this month. Tiny houses have gained popularity worldwide for their affordability and minimal environmental footprint but many local governments are yet to allow them to be used as long-term dwellings. Ravensthorpe has become the State’s third local government to have a tiny house policy after the Shire of Esperance introduced Australia’s first local planning policy specifically for tiny houses in 2022 and the Shire of Chapel introduced their policies last year. Ravensthorpe executive manager for projects and regulatory services Natalie Bell, who led the new policy, said it made moving to the area more attractive amid the nationwide housing crisis. “Like all shires, we have a bit of a housing and accommodation issue,” Ms Bell said. “People are restricted in where they can live and obviously there’s no rental accommodation about at the moment. “The new policy just makes it much simpler for people to be able to put a house on their block of land.” With only one registered builder in the shire, Ms Bell said the planning and building process for people looking to relocate to the area could be very “difficult” and “frustrating”. She said the new policy opened doors to more accommodation options in the area, allowing people to live in tiny houses as long-term dwellings or while they build a more permanent home. “Having a tiny-house policy just allows people to circumvent the planning process altogether in some circumstances, and it negates the need for a building permit,” Ms Bell said. “It takes the national construction code and all those sorts of compliance and regulations issues out of the equation.” The Ravensthorpe community have been nothing but supportive of the tiny-home policy, according to Ms Bell, who said only positive submissions were made during the six-week community consultation period.