Updated for 2026. General information only, not planning advice.
One question that comes up a lot at LJM is whether you can put a tiny house on a piece of land, and what you need to sort out first. The honest answer is that it depends on two things. Whether your tiny house sits on wheels or on footings, and which council area the land falls in. A tiny house on wheels is generally treated like a caravan, which changes the whole picture. A fixed tiny home is a dwelling, assessed like any small house.
We’ve delivered more than 450 custom designed tiny homes to every state since 2017, all built in house here on the Sunshine Coast. What we haven’t done is write the rules, and we can’t tell you what your council will or won’t approve. Tiny home regulations in Australia aren’t set nationally, so the answer shifts depending on where you happen to be standing. Below is how the tiny house rules in Australia broadly work state by state, what your trailer changes, and who to ask before you commit to a block.
Wheels or fixed, the distinction that decides everything
A tiny house on wheels, often shortened to THOW, is built on a trailer and registrable for road transport, as every LJM home is. That generally means it’s regulated as a caravan rather than as a building. What state and council rules govern is where it can sit and how long someone can live in it, and that’s the part that varies most.
A tiny home fixed to the ground, on footings and permanently plumbed, is a dwelling. It goes through the usual building and planning process like any house. Neither path is better than the other. They suit different plans, and LJM builds on wheels, so if a fixed dwelling is what you’re after we’ll tell you that early rather than late.
What your trailer changes
You’ll see a figure quoted widely online that a tiny house on wheels in Australia has to be under 2.5m wide, 4.3m high, 12.5m long and 4.5 tonnes. It’s not that clean. There’s no single national dimension rule for a tiny house, because a home on wheels is regulated as the trailer it sits on, and trailers differ. We build on two.
Electric brake trailer, 2.5m wide, rated to 4.5 tonne
A tri-axle flatbed with electric brakes on all six wheels. At 2.5m wide it can be towed under caravan legislation, which keeps transport straightforward and is why this was our standard build for years. The Mt Tinbeerwah is one example.
Air brake trailer, 3m wide, rated to 10 tonne
A skeletal steel trailer with air brakes and anti-lock braking on all four wheels. The extra width and the higher weight rating are what make heavier customisation possible, which is why the majority of our builds now go this way. The Noosa sits on one, at 10m by 3m. The trade-off is transport. A 3m-wide home needs additional load requirements on the road rather than travelling under standard caravan rules.
Either way the trailer is custom built, VIN plated and compliant with Australian road standards, so registration is never the question mark. What the trailer does change is your width, your weight budget for finishes and fit-out, and how the home gets to site. It’s worth settling early in the design conversation, over a coffee with us rather than after the fact.
Queensland
Queensland leaves caravan living on private land to individual councils, and their positions vary widely. Some are quite open to a tiny home on wheels behind an existing house. Others put conditions on how long it can be lived in. Secondary dwelling rules have also shifted in recent years in some council areas. Because two neighbouring councils can take quite different views, your own council’s planning desk is the place to ask, and we’d always suggest asking before you fall in love with a block.
New South Wales
NSW has a caravan pathway that many tiny home owners use, generally where there’s already a house on the property. How it’s applied differs from council to council, and some rural councils publish their own tiny house fact sheets, which are worth reading before you call. If permanent living is the plan, your council can tell you what the fixed dwelling route looks like in your area.
Victoria
Victoria is council by council for living in a tiny home on wheels, with some progressive pockets. A few regional shires have trialled more flexible approaches, while others keep it simple as long as the tiny home isn’t the main dwelling on the block. Rules differ sharply between metro and regional councils, so check yours first.
Western Australia
WA has made the most talked-about recent move, with changes in 2024 that opened the door to longer, council-approved stays in a tiny home on wheels on private land than were possible before. The detail still sits with each council and can change, so we won’t quote it here. We go through the broader picture in our Western Australia regulations guide, and your local shire has the current version.
South Australia, Tasmania, NT and ACT
South Australia’s planning system accommodates moveable structures and secondary dwellings in various zones, with metropolitan and regional councils applying quite different policies, and plenty of rural-living areas are tiny home friendly. Tasmania and the Northern Territory both regulate at council level, with tiny homes on wheels generally treated as caravans, and several Tasmanian councils have taken supportive positions. The ACT runs a single planning authority. In every case the sequence is the same. Know what you want, then ask the people who make the call.
How to get started
There’s no one size fits all, and the order matters less than actually starting. Here’s how we’d suggest going about it.
Step 1. Get clear on how you want to live
Get inspired first. Gather ideas, save the layouts you keep coming back to, and if you can, walk inside a tiny home, because 8 metres feels very different in person than on a screen. Write down what matters to you, whether that’s a proper kitchen, a bath, a spot for the dog or a desk with a view.
Step 2. Decide wheels or fixed
Staying flexible, testing a block, or housing family for a while? Wheels. Building something permanent on a suburban lot? A fixed dwelling might suit you better, and we’ll say so. Worth knowing that an LJM home stays on its trailer permanently and can’t be lifted off, so it sits firmly on the wheels side of that decision.
Step 3. Talk to your council
Once you know roughly what you want and where it’s going, call your council’s planning desk. Ask how they treat tiny homes on wheels on private land and what they’d want to see from you. This is the conversation that tells you what’s possible on your block, and it’s the only reliable source for it. We can’t answer it for you, but we can make sure the home itself answers every question they might have about how it’s built.
Step 4. Sort power and wastewater early
Wastewater is the item councils tend to care about most. Composting toilet, greywater system, septic or mains connection, decide early, because it shapes both your conversation with council and how we design and build your home. We build for mains, off-grid and hybrid setups.
Step 5. Come and see us
Visit the factory in Coolum Beach or book a discovery call, and we’ll talk it through from there. You don’t need to own land to start, either. Plenty of our clients don’t.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are tiny homes legal in Australia?
You can buy and own a tiny home anywhere in Australia. Where you can place it and live in it is where the conditions come in. A tiny home on wheels is generally treated as a caravan, a fixed one as a dwelling, and what each of those means for your block is set by your state and, mostly, your local council. Those answers vary, so your council is the place to ask.
Do I need council approval for a tiny house on wheels?
Often yes to live in one long term, and what’s required differs from one council to the next. Some are more open than others, and the same question can get a different answer two suburbs over. Check with your council before you buy a block or commit to a build, because it’s the one variable we can’t answer for you.
Can I live permanently in a tiny house?
Plenty of people do, and most of our homes are designed for full-time living. Whether it works on your block depends on whether the home is on wheels or fixed, and on your council’s position. Ask them directly about what they’ll approve and for how long.
Does a tiny house on wheels need to be registered?
Yes. A THOW travels as a trailer, so it needs a VIN and registration for road transport. Every LJM home is built on a custom trailer that’s VIN plated and compliant with Australian road standards, and that side of things is handled as part of the build. Note that a 3m-wide home on an air brake trailer carries additional load requirements for transport compared with a 2.5m home under caravan rules.
What about power, water and toilets?
Wastewater gets the closest look from councils. Mains connection, greywater systems and composting toilets are all workable, and each has its own requirements depending on where you are. We build for mains, off-grid and hybrid setups, and we’ll talk through the practical differences between them during design. Our composting toilet guide covers the day to day.