A few years ago, the idea of a shed, caravan, or tiny home as a permanent housing option would have been seen as a novelty for most people.
Fast-forward to the midst of a housing crisis and more advertisements are popping up online for out-of-the-box dwellings at prices that would previously have secured a three-bedroom house.
A shed in Spreyton in Tasmania's north-west was advertised in April — with a single photo of double roller doors — for $300 a week to "live in or operate small business".
A tiny single-room cabin in Cygnet with shared kitchen and bathroom facilities and barely enough room for the fold-out sofa bed was advertised for $175 a week.
And for buyers, there was an ad for a $7,000 homemade yurt, lined with second-hand sleeping bags, which "comfortably" housed the seller last winter.
Labor spokesperson Sarah Lovell said it was clear that people with excess assets were seeing the housing crisis as an opportunity.
"They're seeing it as an opportunity to take advantage of a market that is completely skewed against people who are looking for a safe place to call home," she said.
The latest Tasmanian social housing waiting list figures show 4,603 applicants were waiting to secure a home in March, and it was taking an average of 80.8 weeks.
"We know there are tens of thousands of Tasmanians waiting for specialist appointments, and there are 9,000 people waiting for surgery," Ms Lovell said.
"There must be some pretty big cracks in the system if all of these people are falling through them."
Chris Meier is living in a caravan in a friend's backyard in Sandford, in Hobart's outer suburbs.
He said it was too expensive to live anywhere else.
He is on a waiting list for surgery after a back injury that has left him unable to work for years.
The caravan's cold environment exacerbates his pain, and the increasing cost of living is a daily struggle.
"I probably go without food for myself so I can feed my dog. It's not ideal but I care more about him than myself," he said.
Paul Burton, from the Cities Research Institute at Griffith University, said the ongoing housing crisis had changed people's perception of acceptable housing, with options that would not have been considered a few years ago now on the table.
"We are experiencing a very severe housing crisis at the moment, a crisis of affordability and supply and demand mismatch," he said.
"It's going to persist and it may well get worse. And in the context of a profound and probably prolonged housing crisis, things that previously might not have been seen as socially acceptable or normal become a bit more so, so not necessarily by design but because there's no alternative."
"Some people are very happy to live in smaller dwellings, but some are doing it because they have no choice."
Stewart Page bought a large block in Tasmania's far south, hoping to build secure housing for his extended family.
Mr Page wants to build a house for himself, give the property's existing tiny home to his brother Daniel and build a second ancillary dwelling for his parents, but council rules only allow one extra dwelling.
His brother is a disability pensioner with cerebral palsy who has been waiting for suitable housing for around seven years.
Stewart Page said the challenge of trying to house his family was taking a toll.
"I naively thought it would be simpler than what it has been," he said.
"It gives you immense amounts of angst because I'm sitting there going, 'It's not quite there yet and my family is still struggling with rent, with electricity, with food bills.
"They're deciding whether or not to have the lights on at night."
Mr Page said councils and state governments needed to work together to make it easier for people to access alternative housing options.
"It shouldn't be as hard as building a full-blown house," he said.
"There should be an intermediate that allows people to quickly, easily access this cheaper type of accommodation and improve living standards in this current crisis.
"That's really what the community needs."
