Cr Paul Tatchell has called for a government loan scheme for the working poor and the unemployed to buy into their own cabin for less than the rental on an established home, to relieve pressure on public housing. 

Under the plan, councils would create communities of cabins by providing areas of crown land on which residents could establish a cabin and a yard. 

“The economic reality is simple. Public housing costs $400,000 per house every 10 years. That’s to replace, refurbish and refit,” Cr Tatchell said. 

“We now have working poor – people with jobs who can’t afford to rent. That gap is growing. But you can put in a cabin that will keep a small family for about $60,000. It has a fixed cost of under $100 a week. It may not be ideal for the long term but it is an answer.”

Cr Tatchell said the price of land was the greatest obstacle to home ownership. 

Meanwhile, much of the land within Moorabool Shire and other shires in the region was underused. 

“Seventy per cent of our shire is crown land, which doesn’t contribute in terms of paying rates and we have to maintain the peripherals,” he said.

“On the other hand, we could put 30-40-50 transportables on a crown land, with a 99-year lease or whatever and have a body corporate-style operation to manage it.”

gav.mcgrath@fairfaxmedia.com.au