As Australia’s housing crisis deepens, one resourceful Aussie has found her own $40,000 home solution, proving you don’t need to sign your life away to a bank to secure a place to call your own.
Kia Humberstone, 26, is tackling the property market head-on, not with a hefty mortgage, but with a welder and a whole lot of elbow grease.
Eschewing the conventional path of a quarter-acre block and decades of debt, Kia is meticulously crafting her very own 13-metre “tiny home” atop a vintage truck and trailer, set to cost her a mere $40,000.
For many young Australians, the “Aussie dream” of homeownership feels increasingly out of reach. Skyrocketing property prices and a fiercely competitive rental market have left a generation grappling with affordability.
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26-year-old Kia Humberstone is building a $40,000 home on the back of a truck. Source: Supplied
The work entails a lot of blood, sweat and tears…and some serious welding skills. Source: Supplied
It’s a reality Kia knows all too well. After a nine-month stint in Sydney, she returned to her roots in Margaret River, Western Australia, only to find the housing crisis had a firm grip on the region.
“At my age, especially as a single person, if I was to go and take out a loan, I’d be paying that off probably well into my retirement age, and I just don’t think that’s any way to live,” Kia told Yahoo News.
Her desire for a “debt-free future” became the driving force behind her unconventional property venture.
This isn’t Kia’s first foray into the world of alternative housing.
During Covid, she built her inaugural tiny home on a truck for just $12,000.
That project not only provided her with rent-free living for two years but also saw her triple her initial investment when she later sold it for $35,000, funding a two-year camping trip around Australia.
Kia hopes to inspire other young people. Source: Supplied
Kia built her first tiny home during Covid, before selling it for a tidy profit. Source: Supplied
Her current project, a 1988 Isuzu truck and trailer purchased for $5000, is a testament to her determination and resourcefulness.
Despite discovering significant rust, Kia has painstakingly restored the vehicle, grinding back corrosion, fibreglassing patches, and preparing it for its new life as a mobile dwelling.
“The reason I’ve built on a truck is because I don’t own land and it’s a way of having your own home that’s not fixed to a property and doesn’t require council regulations because it’s not a permanent dwelling,” she said.
She’s funding the build by working three jobs, pouring her “blood, sweat, and tears” into every detail, often utilising recyclable materials to keep costs down.
Once complete, this second tiny home will serve as her “little home base,” offering the flexibility to travel while still owning a valuable asset.
Her long-term plan includes living in it for a year, enjoying the “fruits of her labour,” before potentially renting it out and exploring overseas.
Through her social media updates, Kia hopes to inspire others, particularly young people and women, to consider alternative pathways to homeownership.
“I just want young people in general to know that there is a way of still owning your own home and living in it without signing your whole life away to the bank,” she asserts.
While it might not be the “standard home that most people aspire to have,” Kia’s innovative approach offers a compelling blueprint for navigating Australia’s challenging property landscape, proving that with ingenuity and hard work, a debt-free dream home is well within reach.
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