Tiny house seeks permanent home

Isaac and Rosa Strati are partway through building their house. Now all they need is a place to park it.

The young couple are attempting to gain a rung on the Auckland property ladder by building a tiny house - an eco-friendly home that sits on a trailer. But they need a willing landowner to help them see their plan to fruition.

Mr Strati works as a freelance editor; Mrs Strati is a dancer and Pilates instructor.

Buying a ‘traditional’ home was never an option.

“The whole point of moving to the tiny house was to be debt-free, to have some years of still being in your 20s, to be able to travel, and not worrying about paying rent,” Mrs Strati said.

The couple made a post on the website Neighbourly to find potential landlords. In exchange for the land, they are willing to perform any chores the landlord wants: house-sitting, gardening, or even walking the dog.

“The responses were very positive, which I was a little bit worried about, because it would be pretty generous for someone to be able to work out an arrangement with us for land,” Mr Strati said.

Mrs Strati thinks the housing crisis has made Aucklanders more receptive to their plan.

“I think people are a little bit more compassionate maybe, or open-minded towards alternatives because just because they worked hard for this thing and they have it now, it’s not the same deal for us.”

Auckland property consultant Phil Eaton agreed that the Stratis had come up with an innovative solution to get into their first home.

“Obviously we have a well-documented shortage of housing and where we do have housing it is not affordable. I suppose that is causing people to be innovative.”

Mr Eaton said the onus should be on local and central government to come up with innovative ways to create affordable housing, not people trying to break into the market.

Leroy Beckett, the media advisor for the youth-led sustainability advocacy group Generation Zero, said situations such as those presented by the Stratis are a sign of the diversification of housing choices that will increase after the passing of the Auckland Unitary Plan on August 15.

“For too long we have been building three-bedroom family homes which everyone, regardless of their situation, had to compete for because they're the only available homes, and that competition drives up the price,” Mr Beckett said.

Mr Beckett said the fastest-growing household type in Auckland is single people and couples without children, who require smaller, cheaper housing options.

The Stratis have enlisted some help to build their new home.

“Rosa’s dad is building it and he’s a proper builder and he’s going to do it in between work,” Mr Strati said.

The couple hope to be in their new home – wherever that may be – by December.