A spare block, a relocatable dwelling, and no two-year build to get there.
The proposition
If you’ve got land sitting idle — a backyard, an acreage, a block near a tourism draw — you’ve probably already done the mental math on what it could earn.
The problem is usually the build: the development application, the cost, the year of your life. A MicroHome skips most of that. It’s a self-contained, relocatable dwelling you can have sited and ready to list in weeks rather than years — how it performs after that is a question about your market, not about the build.
What follows is general information to help you build your own model — not a forecast, not a return projection, and not financial or tax advice. The numbers that matter are yours, and they’re worth putting in front of your own accountant or adviser.
The 3.2m width isn’t just a lifestyle story. It’s a booking story.
Short-stay guests filter hard on space and comfort. A home that reads as genuinely liveable rather than a novelty box is a different product in a search result — a third more interior room means a real bathroom, a proper bed, and space to actually stay a while.
It’s the difference between “cute for a night” and “we’d come back.” How that translates into your nightly rate and your occupancy depends on your own market research and is a question for your adviser, not something we’ll put a number on.
The objection you already know — and why how it applies depends on your accountant, not on us.
Ask your accountant how a home on wheels is treated and the answer you'll generally get is that it's closer to a caravan than a fixed dwelling, and depreciates rather than appreciating — confirm it for your own circumstances, because how it applies to you depends on them and not on us.
- Depreciation may be a tax position rather than just a loss — your accountant’s call, not ours. Where an asset of this kind carries an effective life for depreciation purposes it may be depreciable against income, but whether any of that applies to you depends entirely on your circumstances, so take it to your accountant as general information rather than as tax advice.
- Any return here would be cash yield rather than capital growth — your financial adviser’s question, not our promise. The model people generally run for this asset class is indicative payback through nightly income rather than resale — we don’t promise it, and it’s worth testing with an independent financial adviser before you commit to anything.
- Mobility is an option a fixed cabin doesn’t have. If demand shifts, the asset can be moved to chase it, but relocation carries its own costs and approvals — so treat that as optionality to model with your adviser, not as an indicative yield you can count on.
We build homes. We don’t arrange, approve or guarantee finance, and nothing on this page is financial, tax or investment advice — get that from someone independent who is licensed to give it.
The framework, with your figures in it — not ours.
Illustrative only. This is the arithmetic, not a projection: every input below is one you supply, and your figures will vary.
- 01
Your indicative gross income
your nightly rate × nights booked per year
Both figures are yours, from comparable listings in your area and worth checking with your adviser — we don’t supply them, because a nightly rate or occupancy assumption from a builder is a sales pitch dressed as a forecast.
- 02
Less your running costs
cleaning, platform fees, utilities, insurance, rates, management
The line most first models leave out, and the one that moves the answer most.
- 03
Against your entry cost
build cost (from $149,000 inc GST) + site works, connections, delivery and fit-out
We give you the real build and running-cost inputs. Site works vary enormously by block, so that part has to be quoted, not assumed.
- 04
Your indicative payback
entry cost ÷ indicative annual net
Indicative only, highly sensitive to the two figures you supplied in step one, and worth taking to your accountant or an independent financial adviser before you act on it — general information, not financial advice.
The one number we will give you
The Urban One Bedroom — our 9.0 × 3.2m model — starts at $149,000 inc GST. Site works, services connections, delivery and fit-out sit on top of that and vary by block, so we quote them rather than estimate them.
We’ll give you the real build cost and running-cost inputs so you can build your own model on solid numbers — not our optimism. What we won’t do is hand you a yield figure, because any nightly rate or occupancy assumption we supplied would be a guess about your market wearing the authority of a builder — those belong with you and your adviser.
Lower entry friction, and more ways out.
Versus a granny flat or a cabin build: a roughly four-week factory build once the design is locked, or 12 weeks from the start of your build once scheduling and siteworks are counted, delivery onto tricky sites, and an asset that stays relocatable or sellable later. In many cases there’s no development application at all — but that depends on your council and zone and has to be confirmed with them, so treat it as a question to answer early rather than a given.
Short-stay letting brings its own rules on top of that. Short-term-rental legislation doesn’t always cover caravans and movable dwellings the way it covers houses, so put that question to your local council directly before you count on the income; the state planning framework is binding law, and your local council decides your specific case within it.
What to look at next.
How people pay for these
What lenders make of a home on wheels, and the ways buyers typically fund one.
3.2m vs 2.4m, side by side
The width comparison that drives how the home reads in a listing.
How to choose a builder
Counterparty risk is a real line in your model. Five questions that test it.
The Urban One Bedroom
The 9.0 × 3.2m model, with the full spec and what’s included.
Council rules, state by state
How the planning position differs by state — the framework your numbers have to sit inside.
About this page. General information only, last reviewed 2026-07-21. Nothing here is financial, tax, investment or legal advice, and nothing here is a forecast or a promise of any return — every figure on this page is an input you supply, and outcomes vary with your market, your site and your costs. Anything said here about short-stay demand, yields or how a tiny home is treated for depreciation is indicative general market commentary and not a forecast for your property or a finding about your tax position, so check it yourself and get independent financial and tax advice before you act on it. Confirm the planning position for your property with your local council before you commit to anything.
Send us your site — we’ll give you real numbers on our side of it.
Build cost, site works and running-cost inputs are ours, and we'll be straight about them including when they don't suit your block. Nightly rate, occupancy and demand are yours and your adviser's to estimate — we won't guess at them for you.
or call 0429 461 659