Rigid planning regulations have kept a not-for-profit offering low-cost funeral services out of Canberra for two years.
Now the service, which provides an affordable option for people experiencing poverty, has turned to Queanbeyan only to encounter further delays caused by an inflated market.
Hopes the group could secure a site in Queanbeyan at auction on Thursday were quashed when the 1056-square-metre property was sold for $1.55 million, out of reach for its $1.3 million budget.
"We've got funding behind us, but we face real challenges finding premises that are suitable, affordable and that meet the planning and regulation requirements," Tender Funerals Canberra region communication adviser Gregory Andrews said.
"We've found the planning laws in Canberra quite restrictive."
The funeral home will include the mortuary on-site to reduce costs, but it means they can't establish a site on land zoned for community facilities, and are restricted to industrial (IZ2) or commercial services (CZ3) land.
The crown lease also needs to be varied to include a purpose clause for a funeral parlour, which poses further challenges where the site is under a body corporation.
"We actually have to have 100 per cent agreement from the body corporate to make that change," director Catherine Bell said.
"And we're finding that many body corporates are reluctant to have the purpose clause change, not necessarily because they don't want to see the mortuary there, but because adding a another purpose clause to that crown lease can actually cause the rates to increase."
Since 2019, the group has attempted to purchase four properties within the limited zones available to them.
They already operate two locations in NSW, where services cost an average of $3000, significantly less than other Canberra funeral homes.
Of four other Canberra funeral homes contacted by The Canberra Times, average costs for cremation varied between $4750 and $7500, while burial services excluding the plot varied between $4750 and $18,000.
There are 38,000 people in Canberra living below the poverty line, meaning they live on $489 per week for single adults, or $1027 a week for couples with two children.
If established in Canberra, the service could also cater to people in Goulburn, Queanbeyan, Bungendore, Braidwood, Cooma and Yass.
ACT Council of Social Service acting chief executive Gemma Killen said Canberra desperately needed a service such as Tender's.
"It is something that we hear about; people on low incomes not able to afford proper funerals for their loved ones," Ms Killen said.
"And there can be a lot of shame associated with not being able to do the things that would demonstrate the kind of love and appreciation that they had for someone when they're saying goodbye."
Mr Andrews said Tender's measures to reduce costs also gave people more agency to commemorate loved ones.
Cardboard coffins can be personalised with paint, while also offering an environmental option, while the service can also loan a cooling plate to families, which can be used to keep the body of the deceased at home for longer.
"What really struck me was that that I didn't realise that I could have a lot more agency in the funerals for my loved ones," he said.
"And I remember when my dad passed away, I didn't know that he didn't have to go in a hearse, and he would have hated to have gone in a hearse.
"And I didn't know that he had to be lying in a coffin with white makeup on his face for the viewing, he could have stayed at home in bed, and we all could have held his hand and given him a kiss at home."
Ms Bell said the not-for-profit would explore all options to establish a hub in Canberra.
"We will be seeking an audience with the ACT government, with the local councils in the area, with philanthropists and anybody who may be in a position to help us secure that land without having to play the game of pushing the prices up," she said.
"Death is seen as a business, so one of our challenges is that because we're not-for-profit, we're doing things outside of what usually happens within the death industry," Ms Bell said.
"It would be great to see either leniency or some sort of alteration that would allow acknowledgement that death can be not-for-profit, and that we don't quite fit into the same same category as other businesses in the area."
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