First Attempt at Changing Local Tiny House Laws

Candid Tiny House

This is Candid Tiny House, hosted by Shannon Schultz from Fred’s Tiny Houses. Usually this is a podcast interviewing people about their tiny house builds. This season, Season 2, we are doing something different.
Last June, in 2023, the local shire here in central Victoria, Mount Alexander Shire did something extraordinary. They passed a local law that allowed for living in a tiny house on wheels on private property without a permit or a time limit. They removed the biggest barrier to living in a tiny house on wheels that there is: council regulations.
It was huge, we got national media attention, a lot of happy community members and a whole new option for affordable housing in our region. We also got a lot of people from other councils, in other states, around Australia, calling up and asking how did you do this? We want to do that here! How did you make that possible?
So this podcast is in answer to that question. We talk to all the key players involved in the change - what they did, what were the factors for success, what were the obstacles they faced and how did they overcome or avert them? And most importantly, what are the list of things that you can do to replicate the same progress in your home town?
This episode we take a trip down memory lane, to 2020 and the lead up to the local law review, when Fred Schultz led a campaign to legalise tiny house living. We hear about what steps we took, here at Fred's Tiny Houses to create a friendly law, present it to council and generate public support for the idea.
Councillor Christine Henderson was a fan of the proposed tiny house law change, and pushed very hard inside council to get the progressive laws over the line. Hear all about their efforts, the obstacles they faced, and how you can use their experience to overcome obstacles in your home-grown campaign.
Music by Scott Buckley
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