Is this a challenge to retirement villages and land lease communities’ traditional role as an affordable housing provider?
Preer Property Group has purchased six caravan parks in both Melbourne and the Mornington Peninsula so far in its quest to create an affordable house option for people on lower incomes in what the company says is an Australian-first.
The tiny homes are available for rent from $200 to $230 – lower than the average $450 for a one-bedroom unit in Melbourne.
While each of the custom-designed homes only comes in at around 42sq m, they still include all the features you would expect.
“Basically, the tiny homes are nothing more than a condensed version of a functional home,” the group’s Director, Lei Feng (pictured), told news.com.au.
“The space might be small or tiny but there’s a sense of style, steel preserve, quality of fixtures and the living area might be crunching down to pretty small area but still fits a three-seater couch, it still has a small dining section, open plan kitchen, two bedrooms and one bathroom.”
Mr Feng said he was inspired by a trip to the US three years ago where 24 million Americans live in trailer parks, and with 2,500 caravan parks across Australia, the opportunities are there.
“We come from background of development and see the same asset from a different aspect, so we can acquire those caravan parks as most owners are close to retirement age and start revamping the landscape, start replacing some of the old caravans by putting some brand-new ones in that are a little more architecturally driven mobile homes,” he said.
