Farmhouse rental

Farmhouse rental is a method used by many rural Australian towns to attract new residents. Farmhouse rental programs generally offer abandoned and often semi-derelict farmhouses for rent at a nominal price, for example, $1 per week.^[1] 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.^[2]

The modern farmhouse rental program began in the Central West town of Cumnock. 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.^[3] As a result, the program has been adapted widely across rural New South Wales and beyond.^[4] Similarly, the rural locality of Errowanbang saw its school's population rise above the two teacher threshold for the first time in its history.^[5]

In 2011, the ABC produced a documentary following the farmhouse rental scheme of Trundle, "Country Town Rescue".^[6]