"....You cant just plonk a Container somewhere in a yard and live in it..."
You can't legally do that with a caravan either.
"....If its a permanant structure then it must go through all the planning red tape that is needed for a new building approval...."
As with any permanent structure (and some temporary structures). From memory, I think it cost me around $10k to $15k (could have been less) to get to the stage of having the design and all approvals to build a second dwelling in the back yard of a property I owned.
".....A simple tick of the pen is all it would take for Governments to allow 10 small units on a block that once stood an old house...."
This is happening at the moment in outer Melbourne suburbs, 10 and 15 unit/apartment developments have recently been completed next to my mother's property.
You're looking at a different concept to what I was proposing with the likes of shipping containers. The shipping container concept I was proposing was to have a low cost modular system that is sited with numerous other shipping containers as an actual viable home that could be used as a stepping stone into the property market, (not the Gypsy market of caravans).
It would require a radical rethink of how we see homes, and this includes the planning and regulatory aspects from the government and councils.
