Is Frontier.Life a “Tiny Home” builder?
Being a sustainable builder of modular or pre-fab homes, we are often asked if Frontier.Life builds "Tiny Homes"?
To answer this, let’s first understand what a Tiny Home is.
Broadly speaking, there are two types of tiny homes.
Australians welcome the minimalist appeal of compact-living
The first type that we’ll discuss here - the category almost all tiny homes sit in is a ‘Tiny Home on Wheels” (often known as THoWs).
These are the tiny homes you see on TV shows and various exhibitions (such as the upcoming Tiny Homes Expo in Mornington, 28th-30th March)
Simply put, a Tiny Home on Wheels is legally classified as caravan.
A caravan does not need a planning permit or a building permit.
It does not comply with house building regulations like the National Construction Code.
It does not need to meet the same energy-efficient and high quality building standards. Instead, it is built to comply with the Australian Design Rules (ADR) – again, because it is a caravan.
Because it is mobile – like a caravan – the ADR limits the maximum size to 2.5m wide, 4.3m high, 12.5, long and no more than 4.5 tonnes in weight.
There are restrictions in being able to live in a THoW. While they can be a small second dwelling, in most council areas they cannot be the primary residence on a site.
Even as a second dwelling, it is likely you need a Council permit to live in your THoW and there may be a time limit to how long you can stay. In many states, legislation restricts living in a tiny house on private property to a maximum of two consecutive days or 60 days per year.
THoW, as seen on Better Homes and Gardens (2020)
So, does Frontier.Life build a Tiny Home (or even a Modular Home) on Wheels?
No, we do not. The short answer to the reasons why is because we are about sustainable, energy-efficient, expandable homes. A caravan does not have these characteristics.
Frontier.Life modules are built off-site, movable on the back of a truck and whilst affixed to the ground, relocatable at any time.
Which brings us to the other type of Tiny Home: the Tiny Home on foundations.
This IS a house and so needs to conform to all the normal building regulations.
Depending upon where you are, you may need a Planning Permit, and you will definitely need a Building Permit.
So, Frontier.Life is a Modular builder. Is this the same a Tiny Home on foundations?
While there might be an overlap depending on your needs, a Frontier.Life modular build is considerably more than a Tiny Home on Foundations.
A tiny home by its nature is designed to be small and compact - which we at Frontier.Life are likewise passionate about as we seek to provide smaller-footprint housing solutions. However, they usually offer no more than a single bedroom and are not typically designed to be adaptable or expandable.
Frontier.Life is a Modular Builder.
It is both cost-effective and sustainable to start with a single or two-module build.
Additional modules can be added at any time according to your needs, to allow for sustainable growth without stamp duties, moving costs or stressful renovations.
The Frontier.Life difference.