Yes, building a tiny house yourself can save on labor costs, making it cheaper.

A guide to understanding how much a tiny house costs in labor is: The cost of the labor will generally be the same as the cost of the materials and then some. So, for example, if the cost of tiny house materials is $50K then a professional build in labor cost would be approximately $60K – $70K in addition to the materials.
Therefore if you are able to provide all the labor yourself or for free, you can potentially build a tiny house for as little as $50K.

However, consider that DIY building a tiny house typically takes one to two years. When you are learning on the job, things take longer. You may also need to consider the opportunity costs of DIY building, in that while you are building your tiny house, you are not earning money at your waged work.

Some people choose a hybrid option, where they engage professional builders for parts of their build in order to speed up the building process. For example, you might pay a professional builder to build the tiny house to lock up, which may add an additional $25K to your overall cost, but may save you many months on your construction time. For interesting interviews with people who have DIY built their tiny houses on wheels in Australia, check out Candid Tiny House Podcast, Season 1.

For comprehensive training on DIY building a tiny house on wheels in Australia, check out our in-person workshops and our online course.

Deciding whether to take on a DIY tiny house project is a matter of weighing up your time and money limits, as well as assessing your existing resources, like how much help and equipment you can access within your community for free or low cost.