Backyard builders win right to keep 'Tiny Home' in Brisbane yard

A Brisbane couple won the right to keep their “Tiny Home” on a friend’s property, after the local council told them it was an illegal structure.

A neighbour reported Lara Noble and Andrew Carter to the Brisbane City Council after they set up their moveable home in a friend’s Brisbane backyard.

The council investigated the property and decided Ms Noble and Mr Carter needed building approvals for their house and gave them an enforcement notice.

The pair decided to fight the case by taking it to Queensland Building and Development Dispute Resolution Committee. Earning approval would have required plumbing and electrical work done, something that isn’t realistic for a house that’s effectively a caravan, Ms Noble said.

“We couldn’t do an approval in the typical sense, it wasn’t possible for our tiny home,” she said.

The pair built the home themselves last year, Ms Noble said it takes about two hours to pack up and move to a new address.

“It’s built on the trailer, so it’s permanently fixed to the trailer,” she said. “We’ve moved it nine times or so.”

ESC Consulting helped Ms Noble and Mr Carter challenge the enforcement notice. Consultant Valerie Bares said it was understandable the council officer wasn’t sure what to do with the tiny home.

“When you see the tiny house in it’s location, you can mistake it for being a fixed building,” she said. “It’s nicely set up with landscaping and because it looks like a house, not a caravan so you would be a little confused as to how to treat it.”

Despite the mix-up Ms Noble said she was happy with how council responded to the challenge.

“They were awesome and supportive,” she said. “They said even if you don’t win the appeal we’re open to finding a solution and moving forward.”

Ms Bares was optimistic the council will find a way to effectively regulate the dwellings.

“At the moment as far as we know council has initiated a review of tiny houses,” she said. “Not just from a regulation perspective but as a housing option for Brisbane.

“Maybe early next year they might come back to us to continue discussions.

“You don’t want backyard shanty town properties, but at the same time it’s getting hard to find a suitable and affordable place to live I think they need to establish some guidelines and that’s what we were looking for.”

The Brisbane City Council said it is reviewing the decision.