TINY HOUSE villages could be the bite-sized solution to Lake Macquarie's housing issues.
It might be the next move for families looking to downsize, people experiencing homelessness or eco-warriors wanting to live with like-minded individuals, in any case, it's deputy mayor Jason Pauling's potential answer to the city's housing diversity problems.
"For me the motivation is economic sustainability and diversity of choices for people, because there is a segment of the community to which this appeals and we haven't embraced that very well," he said.
"The idea isn't to create a 'ghetto' - but communities of like-minded people who can embrace a different way of living outside of three bedroom, two-storey suburbia."
Lake Macquarie City Council voted to investigate its options this week, arguing it is committed to reducing homelessness and prides itself on providing a diversity of housing options.
The concept isn't unique, tiny house villages are redefining the idea of home in a number of American states - in Australia the Tiny Homes Foundation launched its pilot project in Gosford, prioritising housing for people experiencing or at-risk of homelessness.
Its tiny-home-on-wheels is currently located in Armidale, helping Backtrack Youth Works expand their group home capacity while they build four more tiny homes.
It's not for everyone, but some like the Warner family in Jamberoo, near Kiama, chose to build a tiny home in 2018 and live a more 'simplistic' lifestyle - despite owning a full-sized house outside the property at the time.
The concept has gained a lot of traction in places like Victoria, where the Tiny House Festival will be held again in September this year.
Cr Pauling said the idea is growing in popularity and has serious advantages, including being cheaper and faster to build, less wasteful in construction, portable and providing lower living expenses with more efficient design.
He said tiny home villages would also help add to housing density without contributing to the issue of urban sprawl.
"There is a real possibility here for that community spirit of people wanting to minimise environmental impacts, cost of living, bang for buck and meet and share with other people," he said.
"In the first instance the information brief is where we are for the moment, it may never be the council that does it - we need to look at the planning constrains imposed upon us or created by us and how we remove those barriers.
"I want it to be viable, we don't want to create dumping grounds or 'ghettos' and that is a risk that has been raised - there is some negativity in relation to that and certainly it will take some work to ensure that doesn't happen."
While it's only at a conceptual stage, he said any tiny villages would need to be serviced appropriately with the necessary infrastructure to function like any other suburb in the city.
