An elderly resident and two single parents with young children are being evicted from a property in the middle of a housing crisis following a complaint from neighbours.
The residents live in three separate tiny homes on a 32-acre property in the Sunshine Coast hinterland owned by Jacqueline Morton, who has been instructed by the local council that the tenants and their homes must be gone by the end of August.
“Where do they want them to go? Live in their cars or live in tents?” she told the ABC.
“I just think it’s a disgusting attitude … council is quoting by-laws and regulations that just don’t fit the reality of the situation we’re in.”
After a neighbour complained last year, Sunshine Coast Council officers investigated the property near Eumundi and have now ordered Ms Morton to have the homes and their tenants removed by August 31.
Single mum gutted by eviction notice
Angela Smith and her two young boys moved their tiny home onto Ms Morton’s property last year and said she finds the eviction “unbelievable”.
“I don’t have a back-up plan,” Ms Smith said. “To be moving people along in a housing crisis due to red tape is just unbelievable.” She slammed the council’s decision as “heavy-handed” and said she was “crushed” by the outcome.
Local councillor David Law met with Ms Morton and the tenants on her property and told the ABC he doesn’t want to see them evicted. He’s calling on other landowners in the area to offer up some space to host the displaced residents.
What are the rules around tiny homes?
The Sunshine Coast Council only allows one temporary home per property, and in order for a tiny home to stay for a period longer than four weeks, a permit must be granted.
While the permit usually costs $514, it can be waived in “extraordinary circumstances” including financial hardship. Once a permit is approved for a tiny home or caravan, it only lasts for 18 months as it is deemed a “temporary” structure.
Ms Morton currently has four tiny homes on her property, meaning the other three must be removed.
A Sunshine Coast Council spokesperson told Yahoo News the housing crisis is a “complex, multi-faceted and evolving issue”, and said their first priority for all residents is safety.
“Council works with affected parties to support them to find suitable and safe accommodation; however, in this instance we have no option but to require them to comply with Council’s Planning Scheme,” the spokesperson said. Scroll down to read the council’s full statement.
Council’s decision ‘disgraceful’, plea for urgent action
Direct Collective’s Lead Researcher and Analyst Mal Cayley told Yahoo News around 15,000 renters have been displaced in the housing crisis on the Sunshine Coast and slammed the council as “entirely unprepared”.
“People have jobs here, people live here and they can’t get homes here, so they’re looking at whatever they can do to stay in the community,” he said of the people turning to tiny homes. “This is a crisis. This is the greatest crisis we’re facing but because it’s almost glacial in how it’s got here, and it is ‘too hard’ from a political point of view, no-one is treating it like a crisis.”
Mr Cayley said the council’s decision to uproot the families from Ms Morton’s property is “disgraceful” and called for immediate action.
“It is disgraceful that they would be exercising a law like that, that is taking someone from a point of security and safety and putting them at risk,” he said. “If you ask me what they should do? They should stay. Because what are they going to do? Physically remove them? Fine them? Then don’t pay the fine.
“Keep in mind all laws can be changed — it’s not constitutional, it’s not big issue stuff, they can vote to change that.”
And in a word of warning, Mr Cayley said the Coast’s housing shortage is far from over as the “next wave” of price increases approaches.
“We need radical action now. We don’t need degrees of changes like what’s been done in the past, we need radical action.”
Sunshine Coast Council’s full statement
The current nation-wide housing crisis is a complex, multi-faceted and evolving issue.
Council appreciates the cost of owning or renting a home on the Sunshine Coast has been causing some people to consider moving into temporary accommodation.
Our first priority is to ensure everyone – including our most vulnerable people – is safe.
Council works with affected parties to support them to find suitable and safe accommodation; however, in this instance we have no option but to require them to comply with Council’s Planning Scheme.
Council has investigated and taken reasonable development compliance actions in relation to the use of this property for multiple tiny homes.
The landowner was provided a reasonable time period for the relocation of several tiny homes from this property, as only one tiny home can be located on a property.
Under the Planning Scheme, the location of multiple tiny homes is defined as a Relocatable home park, which is an inconsistent use in the Rural zone.
While it is important to support people who need access to temporary housing, Council also has obligations to protect and manage health and safety, the environment, and reduce impacts on nearby properties and public spaces.
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