Four years ago, Kate Kelly was under such severe rental stress she went searching for a van to live in with her son.
The single mother with a disability was spending 70 per cent of her income on rent, and had been on the waiting list for public housing for years.
"I'd got to the point where I wasn't using petrol or electricity on the days my son went to his father's house.
"I wasn't buying the medication I needed for myself, I wasn't going to the doctor.
"I couldn't afford to catch up with friends, because that costs money."
By chance, Ms Kelly ran into someone who lived at the South Hobart Co-housing Co-operative who offered her the chance to house-sit for one of the tenants.
At the co-operative she had a house of her own with a garden and views of kunanyi/Mount Wellington.
Her rent was set to never exceed 30 per cent of her income, and she had a ready-made community that welcomed both her and her son with open arms.
After the house-sit, a permanent space became available. Years later, she is still there.
"I kind of pinch myself every day when I wake up here," she said.
"He has a community and I have a community as well."
What is co-housing?
Co-housing involves the construction of several dwellings on a single block, where some amenities are shared.
In South Hobart there are 12 homes and a common building all facing a central pedestrian 'street'.
Each home in the village is different, ranging in size from two to five bedrooms, and all have a private garden or balcony with a view west to the mountain, or east towards the River Derwent.
The common building contains a kitchen, dining room, lounge area, laundry and guest flat.
There is a large green space at the back of the development, and communal gardens and courtyards throughout.
While the residences have their own kitchens and dining rooms, each week there are common meals, which the residents prepare for one-another.
The model is designed to encourage social interaction, but it is not compulsory.
"I found there's actually a concerted effort to maintain privacy and respect here," Kate Kelly said.
"So, the living is really autonomous and it's really private and it's really nice, but if you want to, you step outside onto your porch and have a chat."
Under the co-housing model, the properties are all individually leased to a tenant.
South Hobart is a co-operative, which means the entire property is owned and run as a not-for-profit business by its members and a board.
Each tenant pays a very small annual membership fee to be part of the co-operative and rent is paid to the organisation.
Every member is responsible for the upkeep and administration of the co-operative, and just like in any organisational structure, they have defined roles and obligations.
"It runs like a business, lives like a community," Kate Kelly explained.
The amount of rent each tenant pays is based on the size of the property, and never exceeds 30 per cent of household income.
Saved from homelessness
Living there has been life-changing for Charlie Woolley and her two-year-old son Jasper.
Prior to moving in back in October 2020, the 22-year-old had been unable to find an affordable rental and had been living in a student boarding house.
"I feel that there's a little bit of discrimination against those who have pets and children, which are often things you can't just re-home," Ms Woolley said.
"There are homeless shelters out there, but the wait lists for those are just insane."
Being a young mother on the brink of homelessness was incredibly stressful.
Ms Woolley admits she found the idea of co-housing a little daunting.
"It was a bit scary at first, because I'd never seen the level of community that was happening.
"People hear things like 'common meals' and 'shared rent' and they think 'what are you doing?', 'are you trapped?', 'do you need me to call someone?'
"But it's an amazing place to live."
She now pays less rent for a three-bedroom home with views over the city than she did when she was at the boarding house.
Sounds good … so why isn't there more of this housing?
By sharing amenities, food and the cost of installing things like solar panels, co-housing is relatively cheap and environmentally friendly.
Having dozens of people living on the same block means they are also very efficient in terms of space.
Elena Perera from Co-Housing Australia believes it is a combination that can help tackle Australia's housing crisis.
"We see co-housing as a model that can provide affordable private and social housing," she said.
"Around the world there are many, many more in urban and suburban contexts, and that's the area we would like to see flourish in Australia.
"Our motto is that we want to see a co-housing project in every suburb and town."
The problem is, it is very difficult for these kinds of projects to get finance.
"Banks aren't really used to lending to collectives."
While Ms Perera believes this is starting to change, progress is slow.
She says the quickest way co-housing projects will start popping up across the country is if governments and financial institutions realise their potential.
"It's really dependent on partnerships with government, lenders, social impact investors, superannuation funds, and the community housing sector to partner with groups."
