Yes. We've never seen evidence that anyone lives in these garden sheds longer than a photo shoot takes.

The land is the killer: controlled by politicians who now make developers responsible for roads and utilities to the land, the cost of which adds to the price of the house.

Yes, it's tough getting a house these days; it always was.

The difference these days is that spoilt brats won't start saving early enough; the won't make sacrifices - they just whine, thinking that life on Earth started the day they were born, and that makes them special.

Tough titty, kids. House ownership is not a right: it's your responsibility.

The increased cost of a lot or a house is tied to the prohibitive cost of energy and ignored by you and the pollies.

And makes apartments more costly in many cases than a three bed in the subs.

Apart from nuclear energy as MSR thorium, the other solution is rapid rail and the rezoning of large part of the adjacent rail corridor to put supply well ahead of demand, which done on a large enough scale, would pay for all the build costs.

Other than that, we need to revisit negative gearing and make apply exclusively to brand new never lived housing.
Alan B.

Good article. Thanks Ross Elliott. Kudos.

Sounds like the "Malthusian Hypothesis" rings true again- along with "The Principle Of Diminishing Returns".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diminishing_returns

Typically mature Australian debate:

A - Tiny houses will fix thing. B - No worries, you go first. A - Boomers should free up their beach houses. B - Are you kidding? A - I blame COVID, we all shrunk our households. B - Didn't Luci Ellis say that first? A - We need more social housing. B - A drop in the ocean. A - I know! We'll de-zone, go vertical, and build houses faster. B - We're a top home-builder in the OECD, and besides which, Albanese has thrown open the borders.

A - I always knew you were a racist. Don't you care about the homeless?

Kudos Steve S.

Most of the tiny houses you see pictured are wheeled modern versions of gypsy wagons that are disconnected from services. Perhaps the large septic tank and electrical battery were hidden from view. Even with wheeled cabins it starts to get permanent when when one or more 'blowaway' kit sheds are built perhaps on cement pads. Ditto toilet and shower block.

A former neighbour criticised me for having an indisposed vehicle (now scrapped) next to my driveway. I pointed out he had six old rust heaps carefully hidden in his bush block. Presumably the typical tiny house won't have the acreage to do that. Tiny houses are just one of a number of 'solutions' to entrenched problems that deluded urban elites think will solve everything.