Farmhouse rental programs are a common method used by many rural

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n towns to attract new residents to live in their communities. The programs generally involve offering abandoned and often semi-derelict

farmhouse FarmHouse (FH) is a social Fraternities and sororities in North America, fraternity founded at the University of Missouri on April 15, 1905. It became a national organization in 1921. Today FarmHouse has 33 active chapters and four associate ch ...

s for rent at a nominal price, often $1 per week. The towns that offer such programs have generally undergone a significant decline in population. As a result, essential services for the area such as education and health are removed or reduced, creating a further, spiralling, population decline. By attracting new residents, the communities hope to reverse their demographic spiral. The modern farmhouse rental program began in the Central West town of

Cumnock Cumnock (Scottish Gaelic: ''Cumnag'') is a town and former civil parish located in East Ayrshire, Scotland. The town sits at the confluence of the Glaisnock Water and the Lugar Water. There are three neighbouring housing projects which lie just o ...

. The organisers there claim the program was successful; claiming the population of the town grew by 30 per cent and the local school hired a new teacher as a result of the 14 new enrolments. As a result, the program has been adapted widely across rural New South Wales and beyond. Similarly, the rural locality of Errowanbang saw its school's population rise above the two teacher threshold for the first time in its history. In 2011, the ABC produced a documentary following the farmhouse rental scheme of Trundle, "Country Town Rescue".

Communities offering farmhouse rentals

Cumnock, New South Wales Cumnock is a small town in New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the now closed cross-country railway line from Molong to Dubbo. The town is located in Cabonne Shire. At the , Cumnock had a population of 275 people. In the 2021 census t ...

* Errowanbang, New South Wales * Greenethorpe, New South Wales *

Ilford, New South Wales Ilford is a village in New South Wales, Australia, beside the Crudine River within the Mid-Western Regional Council. It is located on the Castlereagh Highway (locally referred to as the 'Sydney Road'), about 220 kilometres north-west of Sydney ...

Tallimba, New South Wales Tallimba is a town in the Central West area of New South Wales, Australia. It is a part of the Bland Shire 34 km from West Wyalong and 1½ hours' drive from Wagga Wagga. At the , Tallimba had a population of 335. Infrastructure * St Bern ...

Tottenham, New South Wales Tottenham is a small town in Lachlan Shire in the Central West, New South Wales, Central West of New South Wales, Australia. Tottenham is known as “The Soul of the Centre”, a reference to it being the nearest town to the geographical centre ...

Trundle, New South Wales Trundle is a small town in Parkes Shire in the Central West of New South Wales, Australia. It and the surrounding area had a population of 687 in the . It lies in wheat-growing country and is on the Bogan Gate–Tottenham railway line, complet ...

Tullamore, New South Wales Tullamore is a small town in Parkes Shire in the Central West of New South Wales, Australia. At the , Tullamore had a population of 369. It lies in wheat-growing country. Tullamore has a railway station on the Bogan Gate–Tottenham Branch ...

* Wycheproof, Victoria

References

{{reflist

External links

Seachange (demography) In Australian culture, a seachange (or sea change) is a form of human migration where individuals abandon city living for a perceived easier life in rural coastal communities. The term was popularised by ABC TV series ''SeaChange'', which pro ...

, a related phenomenon *

Jandowae, Queensland Jandowae is a rural town and locality in the Western Downs Region, Queensland, Australia. In the the locality of Jandowae had a population of 1,047 people. Geography The town is west of the Brisbane. the capital of the state of Queensland. ...

, a town that offered building allotments for sale at $1 each for similar reasons Demographics of Australia