A Salisbury company is making giant strides in the tiny house market as people look for affordable options in the midst of a national housing crisis.
Roomi builds affordable, relocatable buildings for commercial and domestic purposes.And the good news? The most expensive unit in the Roomi range is under $30,000 – that’s with A/C, kitchenette and bathroom.
With 10 workers in its Salisbury factory, Roomi is producing three to four tiny homes a week.
The units come in a range of sizes. Frames are made from galvanised steel, walls and roof are insulated coolroom panels finished with your choice of clad- ding colour.
It’s been a wild 18 months for the guys behind Roomi – Cody Freeman and Oliver Gilbert-Roberts.
The pair had a car yard at Moorooka for 10 years, but as a side project built a couple of tiny homes on trailers.
They then modified their design by building on steel skids, allowing for easy transportation on a normal tow truck.
“We put an ad up for one and people were climbing over each to buy it,’’ Cody says.
As demand grew they got out of the car game and started making tiny homes fulltime. They’ve been at their Salisbury factory for about a year.
“It’s been full steam ahead since, a bit like being strapped to the front of a rocket ship,’’ Cody jokes. “It’s really picked up since the state government changed the laws about granny flats (September last year), allowing property owners to rent them to people other than family.
“People are buying them because their parents are getting old, some want to get their teenagers out of the house and then you get kids in their 20s moving back home to try to save money to buy a house.“We also do some work with the NDIS, building independent living houses, as well as small offices and home studios.’’
Cody says Roomi prides itself on having one of the lowest price points and best lead times – eight weeks from when an order is placed to delivery.
“They’re designed to be easy in every way,’’ Cody says.
“They can be transported by a normal tilt truck and/or craned into position. Electrically, they’re like a caravan but can connect to the grid.
“They can be dropped off, plugged in and ready to decorate.The only thing you need is a plumber.’’
There are Roomi units spread far and wide across Queensland and New South Wales.
