Single mother Rochelle Evrard thought she and her one-year-old son were heading towards homelessness amid Australia's brutal housing crisis — until she unexpectedly turned her luck around by securing a tiny home.
A Dream Home Lost
When Rochelle sold the family home she had lovingly renovated with her husband, she thought finding somewhere else to live would be stressful. She never imagined it would leave her terrified of becoming homeless.
The 40-year-old Gold Coast beauty therapist said she spent months applying for rentals, offering to pay fees upfront, and even considered Airbnbs and storage units after her marriage breakdown left her needing urgent accommodation for herself, her toddler Huey, her pet dog Zeke, and cat Miley.
Instead, she found herself trapped in what many Australians now call a housing nightmare. 'In a week and a half we were on the brink of homelessness, I'm not even being dramatic,' Rochelle told Daily Mail. 'Everyone says, "You can stay with us", but realistically who can take in a woman, her baby, her dog and her cat?'
The mother-of-one, living in Mudgeeraba on the Gold Coast hinterland, had been residing in what she described as the first home where she had ever truly felt safe. Rochelle and her then-husband had bought a home together in 2022 before fully renovating it into what she called an 'oasis'. The four-bedroom home, complete with a magnesium pool, large entertaining deck, and granny flat, held enormous emotional significance after a traumatic childhood and the devastating loss of her daughter Millie before welcoming Huey through IVF.
'This is the first home I've ever felt safe in,' she said. 'I grew up in and out of different homes my whole life. This place was our haven.'
The Rental Crisis Hits Hard
However, the couple unexpectedly separated in November 2025, prompting the sale of their dream family home. As settlement rapidly approached, Rochelle realised she had nowhere to go. The reality of Australia's rental crisis hit hard almost immediately when she could not find anything under $750 a week on the Gold Coast.
'I walked into one rental and there were cigarette burns in the carpet and mould in the shower. I looked at the property manager and said, "Are you serious?"' At another inspection, Rochelle counted 43 people competing for the same property, and even her bid to offer up to six months rent upfront did not help.
'I told the agent it was the only thing I had going for me,' she said. 'I'm a single mum, not working, with a dog, cat and one-year-old. I know on paper I don't look like the perfect tenant, but I was just trying to put a roof over my son's head.'
Rochelle had temporarily shut down her home beauty salon while preparing the family property for sale, leaving her without consistent income during the loan application process. Despite having what she described as a 'really large deposit' from the sale of both the family home and an investment property, she was still unable to secure finance. 'I had three quarters of a home loan sitting there and still couldn't get approved for a $300,000 loan,' she said. 'The crazy thing is, my home loan repayments for buying an apartment for that amount would've been considerably less than what rent costs — and I still couldn't get approved.'
A Tiny Home on Facebook Marketplace
For Rochelle, every avenue seemed blocked, but one morning while endlessly scrolling Facebook Marketplace, she spotted something unexpected — a tiny home near Canungra, an hour inland from Surfers Paradise. The tiny home had originally been built by a young couple while they constructed their dream home nearby and was leased on their family friend's land. After finishing their build, they decided to sell the compact property, but there was one catch: the landowners did not want just anyone living there.
After contacting them straight after seeing the advert, Rochelle visited twice, met the owners of the land and the tiny home, and broke down while explaining her situation. 'I literally said, "If this doesn't work, I don't know where I'm going to live next week",' she admitted. The owners eventually agreed to let her stay on the land and lease directly from them.
Rochelle purchased the tiny home for $90,000 outright using part of her settlement funds and now rents the land privately where it was originally based for $250 a week, including water and electricity. The two-bedroom tiny home features a fully functioning kitchen equipped with a dishwasher, bathroom, living space, outdoor deck, and shed, which Rochelle plans to transform into a podcast and work space.
The builder has even agreed to make safety upgrades for Huey and Zeke before she officially moves in. 'He's building secure fencing for my dog and making the deck safe for my son. He's gone above and beyond.'
Challenges of Tiny Home Living
While tiny homes have become increasingly popular across Australia amid soaring housing costs, Rochelle said one of the biggest challenges is simply finding somewhere legal and suitable to place them. 'A lot of places don't allow kids, pets or power connections, meaning they're fully off-grid,' she explained. 'So many mums have messaged me asking how I did it.'
Another major roadblock was financing, with Rochelle learning many banks are hesitant to approve loans for tiny homes in general. Australia's major banks have historically been reluctant to finance them because they are often classified as movable assets rather than traditional real estate. Unlike standard houses fixed to land, many tiny homes are considered caravans or mobile dwellings, making them riskier for lenders and harder to insure or resell if repayments fall behind.
Looking Ahead
Rochelle hopes to eventually buy her own piece of land for longer term security and to avoid having to move again anytime soon. She joked that she is open to creating a small community where other single mothers and families struggling through the housing crisis could safely place tiny homes of their own next to hers. 'This isn't my forever plan, but right now it's giving us safety, security and a roof over our heads,' she said.
For now, the beauty therapist is preparing to restart work by renting a room inside a friend's salon while Huey attends daycare a few days a week. After months of stress, uncertainty, and heartbreak, she said she is finally beginning to feel hopeful again. 'We're still going to live a beautiful, calmer, slower life,' Rochelle said. 'My whole goal was just to have a safe space for Huey and not feel financially stretched all the time.'
And despite everything she has endured, Rochelle believes the experience taught her one important lesson. 'If something doesn't feel right, stop forcing it. What's meant for you will find you,' she said.
