What is a Tiny House?
While there is no official definition of a tiny house, it is generally thought of as a small house, typically sized under 60 M2. While they can be built on foundations, most tiny homes are built on trailers. This style of tiny house is often referred to as a THOW (tiny house on wheels).
There are several advantages to building a tiny house on a trailer. The two most favorable being, mobility and getting around local rules that dictate minimum structure size. Since a house built on a trailer is not on a permanent foundation, it normally is not governed by local building codes. Many municipalities dictate a minimum home size (square meter), which makes building a tiny house on a foundation not legally possible.
There are however disadvantages to building a house on a trailer. For more information about transporting a tiny house be sure to contact our support team.
Why People are Going Tiny
Over the years we’ve talked to tens of thousands of people who are looking to transition to the tiny life. And while their individual circumstances may vary considerably, their motivation for wanting change normally falls into three different groups.
Financial Benefits
The financial benefits of a tiny house are considerable. The most obvious savings are with the initial cost of the home. A tiny house can be built for less than the cost of most cars. And because they are built to the same quality of conventional homes, they can be expected to have a similar lifespan. Despite their lower cost, a properly built tiny house can provide housing for decades.
Once a home is built, the savings don’t stop. Because of their smaller size, most of the utilities and all the maintenance costs are less as well. While there is no savings to some bills like cable TV or garbage pickup, there are considerable saving to others, like electrical and gas.
Additional savings are had with reduced property taxes or rent. Since tiny houses are not permanent, they are not considered an improvement to land, and thus don’t add to the value of the land or the expense of the property taxes. If the land is rented and not owned, it is also considerably cheaper to rent a plot of land versus a house or apartment.
Finally, there are also financial benefits from the reduced consumption that results from living in a tiny house. Having less space results in less shopping and buying. There simply isn’t the room for frivolous purchases, and so a shift occurs where shopping loses its appeal. This actually has many benefits beyond economical.
Simplification
There is no need to move into a tiny house if simplifying your life is your goal. There are techniques that can be used to simplify now. There is no need to wait. While this is true, a tiny house will force you to lead a simpler life.
Living tiny results in owning less. With that comes less thinking about your stuff, less time upgrading your stuff, less time maintaining your stuff, you get the picture. This process is so common that we’ve stopped noticing it and just consider it part of life. It is an invisible weight on our shoulders. Only after it is removed do we recognise that it even existed. When I talk to people that have moved into tiny homes, I am repeatedly told how surprised they are that something they didn’t even know existed was having such a big impact on them.
Financial reasons are what brings most people to the tiny house movement, but the simpler life is what keeps them in it.
Environmental Benefits
Using fewer utilities not only saves money but it also has a smaller impact on the environment. Some homes go so far as to use no utilities by being completely off-grid. Also, with less consumption comes less waste going into landfills.
Challenges of Going Tiny
While there are significant advantages and benefits of joining the tiny house movement, there are also challenges that need to be overcome before you take the plunge.
