Nick Nottle runs Room to Move, a business renting portable rooms around Victoria. Picture: Valeriu Campan

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Desperate Victorians are living in portables in their parent’s driveways and back yards to save money as the housing crisis continues to worsen.

Stand-alone separate rooms that can be delivered across Melbourne have popped up on Facebook Marketplace for up to $180 per week as the city’s median rent hits $460 a week following a 9.5 per cent increase in the past year from $420.

Macedon Ranges-based business Room to Move is behind the listing, which advertises a 7.2sq m space for $150 a week, or a 10.1sq m room for $180 a week, with a minimum hire period of six months.

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The portable rooms are available to rent on Facebook marketplace and range from $150 to $180 per week. Picture: Valeriu Campan

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They come in two sizes, which both come with split system airconditioning. Picture: Facebook/Nick Nottle

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The rooms are popular with renters moving back home to save money. Picture: Valeriu Campan

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Room to Move co-founder Nick Nottle said the mobile spaces mostly attracted renters moving back to their family home in an effort to save for their own house deposit.

“There’s plenty of demand for people looking for a short term solution for accommodation,” Mr Nottle said. “Typically people place (the rooms) in their back yard or on their driveway back off the street a bit.”

He and business partner Mike Rose launched the venture about three years ago when they saw a gap in the market for portable rooms with a “design element” that didn’t look out of place in a residential setting.

“Neighbours don’t really complain because people like the look of it, it doesn’t look like you’ve just dropped a big shipping container in your back yard,” Mr Nottle said.

But he said there could be certain permit restrictions that varied council to council.

While there’s no bathroom included, the portable rooms do come with a weatherproof electrical socket powering two double power points, two internal downlights, a porch light, smoke alarm and a reverse cycle air conditioner.

Desperate tenants are setting up portable rooms in their parent’s back yards. Picture: Facebook/Nick Nottle

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Room to Move is based in the Macedon Ranges. Picture: Valeriu Campan

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Nick Nottle said parents also rented the rooms for their teenage children. Picture: Valeriu Campan

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They require a bond of $500 plus a one-month written notice to end the lease. The rooms can be delivered anywhere within a three to four hour drive from Melbourne for $250.

Mr Nottle said they also appealed to parents looking for a self-contained space for a teenage child, as well as those housing long-distance visitors or wanting short-stay accommodation on their own property while renovating.

“The other group is people using them as an office to work from home, or for studio-type businesses like a lash salon, tattoo parlour or hairdresser — things you can do from home rather than renting a space elsewhere,” he added.

The listing comes after an Abbotsford homestay went viral on social media last year for advertising single bed, shuttle-style capsule pods for rent for a whopping $250 a week, or $900 a month.

More recently, a Facebook user even listed capsule pods for sale on Facebook Marketplace for $1500 each as an option “for students and holiday houses”.

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