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July 24, 2012
Be Smart
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If we’re talking housing affordability, well Australia has a bit of a crappy record at the moment.  This recent piece by the ABC says that we are reaching crisis point, and that we’re going to run into all kinds of problems a bit further down the track when retirees are forced to rent (when previous generations were living in the home they’d paid off by that stage.)

It’s all a bit upsetting really.  And we need a rethink about housing altogether.  I’m all for setting up new style communes, where groups of people buy up parcels of land and build separately (but together!)  I think the benefits of having a little community, sharing the financial load and creating bespoke spaces are pretty obvious. But I am a bit of a hippy like that.

I know this is a complex problem, and there’s no ‘quick fix’, but perhaps these container homes would be a good place to start?  Sort of like a repurposed version of a kit home, these ones are super fancy and totally innovative.  It think they’d work really well as part of a mini community…  And we’ve got to start somewhere, if we’re going to address the housing crisis and build affordable homes.  Do you think this is a good place to start?

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Home : Eleven Amazing Shipping Container Homes
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Would you live in one of these amazing container homes? Or do you have some bright ideas of your own about innovative housing?

x Pip

  • Jeanne

    fantastic, very solid.

    • http://www.justbaustralia.com.au/ Pip @ JustB

      They are amazing, aren’t they? Such a great idea!

  • http://twitter.com/ClareLucyVox Clare Lucy

    Funny, I was discussing this idea with a friend only a few days ago. To me it seems like a great idea – simultaneously reusing existing materials and questioning our need to have massive houses. Some of those designs are great too – I especially like the Costa Rican home.

    • http://www.justbaustralia.com.au/ Pip @ JustB

      I’m really into this idea too! I think that we need to rethink the whole housing industry. And we need to innovate more and make things happen (if we can’t afford the mainstream homes, let’s make our own!) x

  • http://www.facebook.com/vanessadelacy Vanessa De Lacy

    I’ve been looking at these modular houses for a few months now and I love them! I’m a single mum and I’m thinking of putting one of these on my parents land and then one day (fingers crossed) when I can afford my own land I can move it! Renting is horrible and expensive!!

    • http://www.justbaustralia.com.au/ Pip @ JustB

      Renting IS horrible. Mortages are big and fat and horrible too! There has to be some middle ground, right?!

  • Sarah Davies

    I love these. Not sure if you have seen, but the main area in Christchurch nz was devastated by the quake and they have used shipping containers as shops. Is very cool!!

    • http://www.justbaustralia.com.au/ Pip @ JustB

      That IS so cool, Sarah! What a clever solution to a horrible situation!

  • http://www.facebook.com/patricia.morys Patricia Morys

    Does anyone know of a builder in country Vic that builds these? I’d love to put a few containers together and build a family space to suit my family’s needs but I’m not sure how our bank would agree to finance it!

    • CheezyK

      Patricia, look up the shipping company Royal Wolf – they supply containers for refurbishment so probably have contacts in the building industry that you could talk to. Good luck!

  • Roni

    I agree they look fantastic… I am a widow and cannot afford the rents these days. We definately need to do something about affordable housing.

    • http://www.justbaustralia.com.au/ Pip @ JustB

      I agree, Roni. I pay way too much of my income in rent… and I know LOT of other families/people are in the same boat as me. NOT good. We need clever solutions like this, don’t we? x

  • karen

    I think its a great idea, i think the gov should get on board and fix this gov housing problem, also being a single mum it would be fantastic to actualy be able to afford a home with out the stress of having to move one day, more to the point some where we can call home and make it a home.

  • Mark (Firstangle)

    Pip great article. As a sustainable building designer i spend my days arguing with local & state government over the need for smaller & more cost effective housing. whilst this is one response to that there are many other forms out there that do not get the publicity they deserve. I would be happy to share my experiences in the design industry & the resistance we encounter from all forms of government & also industry within when it comes to small cost effective housing.

    • http://www.justbaustralia.com.au/ Pip @ JustB

      Oh wow! I would love to hear more. Perhaps you could email me? pip@justbaustralia.com.au x

  • Ruth

    If people can live in them as rooms in mining areas, i think its a great idea to have them as a home. I just work in a kitchen in a mining area and live in one of the rooms for 2 weeks at a time would love one of these

    • http://www.justbaustralia.com.au/ Pip @ JustB

      Wowee. That’s so interesting! What’s it like living in a room made from a container, Ruth? I am guessing you have good air conditioning? x Pip

      • Ruth

        Its great pip, Just a nice carpeted room with an ensuite air con heating windows exhaust fan fridge tv bed desk cupboard, i love the idea of living in one or more as a home. :)

        • http://www.justbaustralia.com.au/ Pip @ JustB

          So great! Like your own super awesome cubby, with all the mod cons!!! Thanks for telling us about it! x

  • Didee

    My Lord! All these comments could have come straight out of my & my husbands conversations of the past week. We are just in the process of downsizing after selling our Bisbane home at the bottom of the market. Our budget would be looking so healthy if we could buy 3/4 containers a put them on a block of land, but as previously stated – getting them passed by a local council would be virtually impossible. Such a crime.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Leanne-Bertram/100000286617153 Leanne Bertram

    I like them.
    But then, we spent years living in a caravan .. not one of those swish homes on wheels, but a tinny tiny caravan with no toilet or shower etc. So maybe i’m a bit weird :)

  • CheezyK

    My husband is a sparky and one of the things they do on a semi-regular basis is fit out old shipping containers (with power points, air-con etc) for use as offices or housing. We’ve been discussing lately buying a block of land and using one as temporary housing while we build (we figure if we’re doing it all ourselves it could take a while!). Looking at these though I’m tempted to simply set a couple up permanently instead.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Container-Home/100001572272233 Container Home

    Its just fantastic to see the continued interest in Container based Construction.

    I have a free book featuring the 30 most influential Shipping Container Homes ever built that you might like to review.

    Feel free to download your free copy here.

    http://www.containerhome.info/30-most-influential-container-homes.html

    Thanks

    Victor.

  • Debt Free Teen

    Wow! I would love to have one of these modern shipping container homes!
    Chase

  • Peter

    Hi Pip
    I have already built a 7 x 40′ container horse stable with a large 2 bedroom
    unit above it & I’m also in the process of building a 12 x 40′ container
    house on the same property. It’s been a fascinating experience & we have loved living above the stables now for approx a year. I’d be happy to provide some information to anyone interested in building with containers.

    • http://www.justbaustralia.com.au/ Pip @ JustB

      You are amazing, Peter. Do you live in Australia? x

      • Peter

        Yes, in Sydney. The link below shows a picture of the stables, I used Royal Wolf to do the modification to the containers; they were great I can highly recommend them. The house is architect designed but based on using containers. Royal Wolf is about to start the modification for the house as well, hopefully building will start early in the New Year.

        http://www.royalwolf.com.au/modifications/modifications/

    • Craig

      Hi Peter , what cost is involved with converting a container into a weekender for a family of 5 . I imagine you may need 2 or more containers to make it comfortable enough.

    • sandandra

      peter i have been trying to find all the information i can about container houses , i love the idea and like pip can see they are very valuable in assisting low income and disadvantaged australians , i live in the yarra valley and would love to do battle with the local council on setting up several on the one block , like units but more personal space around each , due to the low cost of building they could be rented out at incredibly affordable prices , but i am having some trouble just getting good basic information , is there any sites or information you could possibly forward , thank you , and no im not a money hungry land lady , i actually buy old dumps do all the labour and renovating and then rent at the lowest price possible to the ppl that real estates refuse to give a go , i have so many ppl knocking at my door desperate for somewhere to live that it breaks my heart , i really feel like this could be a solution but i need more knowledge first .

  • Graynomad

    I’ve been designing a container home for quite some time now. We downsized 12 years ago into a 6×6 Army truck (see http://www.robgray.com if you are interested in the nomadic lifestyle) so moving into 2-3 containers would be up-sizing by about 300% for us.

    We own 25 acres in central QLD and I think that there is already a container house in our district so maybe the local council (Bundaberg) is inclined to be less obstructive than the norm.

    One thing I have in my design is a 20-footer mounted vertically, I’ve not seen that before so hope there aren’t any regs against that.

  • Beau Cornerstone

    Hi – further to Pip’s article – If you’re considering building a container home you might like to look at my blog entry here – http://beaucornerstone.blogspot.com.au/2012/07/sea-container-architecture-affordable.html. This entry is a summary of some background info we used in an (unsuccessful) submission for funding to build a prototype affordable home for homeless people in our area.

    If you live in rural or remote Australia I’d say go for it! We used to live in a mining town (Laverton, W.A) and a neighbour lived in a sea container home. She had four containers butted together in a square – together they formed a central private courtyard with a garden (where her children played in safety). I was envious of her setup as our family were living in a 26 ft caravan – and she had heaps of room compared to me! When her family left town – the four containers were loaded onto trucks in about an hour and there was no sign a home had ever been there except for the remains of a garden and a sewer point. Try removing a conventional home as easily!

    A word of warning if you live in suburban or regional Australia however – find out your Shire’s/Council’s attitude towards container homes early on – before you design your home and definitely before you buy the first container.

    Hundreds of Australian families are living it rough in our region (outer Perth suburbs). There are families sleeping in sheds, in storage units, caravans, in cars, in tents even. One family died in a tent fire in a caravan park last year.

    Hubby (a builder) and I wanted to build a display container home as a prototype of an affordable housing solution for the homeless and those who couldn’t afford conventional accommodation in our local area. We got so much Shire opposition however that we gave up the not-for-profit project. There are around 50,000 Western.Australian low income earners on the Homeswest waiting list. I’m convinced that figure would be halved if Councils permitted more housing diversity in metro and regional W.A.

    Suburban councils seem to have a mindset that all container homes are scrappy – even if you plan to make the external appearance of the home aesthetically pleasing by cladding it with materials used on conventional homes. If you are going to approach your council about building a container home I suggest you go well armed – with dozens of photos off the net.
    Happy home-building, Beau

    • http://www.facebook.com/ann.quinn.1865 Ann Quinn

      Councils have way to much power, and we let them get away with it. Sack the lot of them, they are supposed to be working for us the people who elect them..How would they like to be homeless. shame on them. I think your idea is brilliant…

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