Savvy property owners looking to build tiny homes on their land are using a smart way to drive around the need for council approval.
Typical tiny houses, built on a foundation, are treated much the same as any other building and require standard council approval, which can vary per region and state and cost thousands of dollars in development application fees.
But when it comes to living in a tiny house on wheels, many councils still haven’t introduced any clear tiny house regulations.
This means that in most locations, including the entirety of New South Wales, you could build a tiny home without the need to apply for approval or pay any additional costs.

The loophole comes simply by building the tiny home on a wheeled trailer and keeping it within certain size limits, allowing it to be classified as a caravan rather than a permanent structure.
Those minor changes allow the property to drive over the many regulatory hurdles of fixed dwellings, as it’s no longer considered a building.
Blake Walker is the co-director of Tiny Solar Homes, who specialise in constructing luxury off-grid mobile tiny homes.
He told Build-it that constructing the properties on wheels was perfect for homeowners who needed clarification about the rules regarding tiny homes.
“Many people we speak to want a tiny home, and the rules around council are a major part of their decision-making,” he said.



“It must be a caravan to skip those traditional planning rules and regulations.”
“With a traditional tiny home, you’d have to go through the council, but because this is classed as a caravan, you could do this without having to speak to the council at all.”
Wheeled tiny home upsides:
- Relocatable
- Lack of development applications
- Compact
- It can be fully off-grid
- Built offsite
- Save on foundation costs
Wheeled tiny home downsides:
- Size limits of the home
- Additional materials and components needed
- Needs to comply with caravan regulations
However, Blake says owners wouldn’t have complete autonomy over what they did with a wheeled tiny home, as they’d still need to comply with that region’s specific caravan regulations.
“You would still need to talk to them about whether you’re doing a septic tank or if you need bushfire rating approvals in your area,” he told Build-it.
Meanwhile, those considering buying a tiny home just to rent out for some extra cash are urged to do further research.
“If you start renting it out in NSW, it needs to be for a member of the household,” Blake explained.
The rules change slightly, but you could live in it yourself or as a household member, although that is a pretty broad term arguably open to interpretation.”