This Queensland family swapped their Harley-Davidson for a bus to escape the rental trap
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Kris Bailey once counted his Harley-Davidson as his most prized possession, but in the midst of a rental crisis, he found stability for his family by swapping two wheels for four. Fed up with the competitive rental market and rent increases, Mr Bailey and his wife Kimberly bought a bus and converted it into a motorhome in 2022. Ms Bailey said the couple had always planned to travel around Australia in a bus, but those plans were fast-tracked when the rent on their Brisbane home increased. They previously had been living on the Gold Coast but were forced to look elsewhere, including Brisbane, because they couldn't secure another rental on the Gold Coast once their lease had ended. "I was applying for rental properties left, right and centre … and every rental property that we went into, there was 20 people just going in to have a look at these places — it was crazy," Ms Bailey said. "We made the decision to sell up everything that wasn't going to fit in the bus and move our whole family into it." Ms Bailey says her family opted for a bus instead of a house.(Supplied: Kim Bailey) The Baileys found a $25,000, 52-seater coach for their two children and their pets. Mr Bailey made the "devastating" decision to sell his beloved motorbike and hoped to make about $35,000 on the sale — enough to buy the bus and invest in some improvements to it. "He really didn't want to, but chose to for the sake of his family," Ms Bailey said. Unfortunately, they couldn't find an interested buyer. With time running out, they asked the seller if they would trade the bus for the bike. Thankfully for the Baileys, they agreed. "It just kind of snowballed from there," Ms Bailey said. "We were very lucky in that instance, that we actually had something that we could trade." Kimberly and Kris Bailey live with their two children and their pets.(Supplied: Kim Bailey) However, recent analysis from PropTrack shows the Gold Coast is the second most expensive place in the country to rent, just behind Sydney. PropTrack economist Cameron Kusher said the median rent on the Gold Coast was $760 a week. "In Brisbane, you're looking at around $600 a week," he said. He said rental vacancies remained low at 1.02 per cent on the Gold Coast and 0.98 per cent in Brisbane. Cameron Kusher says it is a challenging time for renters.(Supplied: PropTrack) "I think people are probably now looking around for cheaper alternatives and that's either obviously further away from the coastline on the Gold Coast or moving into other parts of south-east Queensland," Mr Kusher said. The Baileys have been living in their bus — which they have converted into a motorhome — for more than a year. After putting a call-out on social media, they found a home owner willing to allow them to park the bus on their Scenic Rim property — close to Mr Bailey's work on the Gold Coast. For $300 a week, they get water, electricity and access to a large area of land. "We were paying $600 [a week] for a two-bedroom property, with barely any land and [now] we're paying half that," Ms Bailey said. "It's crazy. We have the availability of all of those facilities, and we basically own our own home now and it can take us wherever we want to go." Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ) chief executive Antonia Mercorella said it was easy to see why living in a motorhome was appealing, especially when rental property vacancy rates were so low. "We are living in the tightest rental market in the history of our state, and this creates a challenging environment for renters," Ms Mercorella said. But Ms Mercorella urged renters and property owners contemplating such arrangements to be aware of local government and insurance regulations. The Baileys live on a private property in the Scenic Rim.(Supplied: Kim Bailey) The rules for living out of a motorhome on a private property vary between councils — some permit property owners to let people live in their backyard, while others only allow such living arrangements on a temporary basis. Campervan and Motorhome Club of Australia chief executive Richard Barwick said local laws should be relaxed to help ease the housing pressures. "Here's an opportunity for people to be able to be accommodated in a safe environment, meeting all expectations at a reasonable cost … and as we have this society that has a housing shortage, it is a perfect avenue that should be explored," he said. Ms Bailey says her family looks forward to making memories on the bus.(Supplied: Kim Bailey) While it was hard letting go of the motorcycle, Ms Bailey said living in a bus has given them more opportunities to save money to create more special memories as a family. "It was rough to begin with because it was just everybody was on top of each other," she said. "But you've got to do what you've got to do to survive and if that means buying a bus or living in a tent … to keep your family happy, healthy, safe, then that's what you've got to do."'Tightest rental market in history'
Calls for local laws to be relaxed