Adrian Tilley wants a holiday home in one of the most remote corners of the country — the outback Queensland town of Birdsville — a world away from his day job in Sydney's tech industry.
"Some people maybe go for a sea change or tree change, but I really love the arid areas of Australia, so I'm going for a sand change," he said.
But building new homes in the outback can be challenging and expensive, so Mr Tilley opted to have his home built 1,600 kilometres away in Brisbane.
It is due to be trucked to the town on the edge of the Simpson desert in August.
Mr Tilley is among a growing number of people looking to avoid skyrocketing construction costs and trades shortages by buying a modular home.
But some builders say there are downsides to a quick fix.
Quick and convenient
All up, Mr Tilley's modular home will cost about $300,000.
It is a modest cost compared to the $3.3 million the Diamantina Council was quoted when it put out a tender for four, two-bedroom homes to be built in Birdsville to attract potential employees.
Recently, several local councils in Western Queensland have entered multimillion-dollar contracts for modular homes to be trucked into towns for staff, including Quilpie, Eromanga, and Jundah.
A 600km drive east from Birdsville in Quilpie, the shire's chief executive Justin Hancock lives in a four-bedroom modular home.
It is a step-up from the retirement village he first lived in due to the region's housing shortage.
"We've had three houses delivered now through that [modular] route, and we've got another four due to be delivered by July this year," he said.
"It's probably the quickest and most convenient way to have a house."
A few hours drive north, in Jundah, the Barcoo Shire will spend $1.5 million on three transportable two-bedroom homes, after quotes for conventional construction were "significantly" over budget.
A wider range of offerings
While transporting housing is not a new phenomenon in Queensland, the Regional Australia Institute (RAI) said the influx of permanent, purpose built, modular homes could be attributed to improved quality and increased competition in the market.
"Community perceptions are often that they are short-term temporary accommodation for single men," RAI chief economist Kim Houghton said.
"What's happened in the marketplace now is you've got a much wider range of offerings, many of which are designed for permanent, long-term living."
He said banks were reluctant to lend in "frozen" or "stalled" markets where there were few new homes built, which became a self-fulfilling cycle, as a lack of access to capital prevented new construction.
"To get some new activity in those places will actually start to unfreeze those markets and unlock the ability for other landowners to build and renovate … by bringing in some new properties that are pre-built and easy to erect … it'll improve access to finance," he said.
"In the medium term, this has got to be a good thing for those communities."
Outback interest booming
In Barcaldine, Shane Turner has lived in her modular home for about two years.
"It's the same as any other home — it's nicely fitted, has everything that any other build has, the only difference is it's built in a factory" she said.
"We do have builders in Barcaldine, but because it's a smaller place there's not as many of them, so there's quite a wait sometimes."
Ms Turner has now purchased another modular home to rent out.
"It's a good feeling to be able to do that, there's a lot of people looking for a place to rent, and not a lot on the market," she said.
At Hoek Modular Homes workshop in Brisbane, owner Dean Hoek said interest from regional areas was booming.
He said customers were demanding real homes that would last just like a conventional build.
"There's a good chance that a house built on site is structurally less than a transportable," he said.
"[A] transportable has to survive getting from point A to point B."
A 'cheaply made' option
While time will be the test of longevity for these homes, in the meantime, Longreach builder George Kent is steadily working through his backlog of jobs.
With 20 years experience, he understood why some outback consumers were going modular.
"They can't find a builder, or they need it now," he said.
However, he recommended waiting for a builder to construct on-site.
"I don't particularly like the houses, they're a bit cheaply made and they seem to date a lot quicker," he said.
"I'd wait for a builder to do it for sure, but [between] the rental market and everything here, there's so many factors of why people need a house now, so you've really got to weigh it up for your own situation."
