There was a time, a mere handful of years ago, when the idea of a tiny home filled people with a rush of hope and joy for the future. It was within the reach of a downtrodden population who gave up on conventional housing and had accepted the American dream would never be theirs. Until codes, builders, and inflation crushed even that sliver of light within their dim reality.
There were so many people who would have loved to live in their own little space with a little green area around to call their own. It wouldn’t be an apartment where rents could change anytime and leases run out. It would have been owned outright and no one could raise the price or send an eviction notice. A tiny house, by definition is no larger than 500 sq. ft., about as big as two average sized rooms. For most people, this was hardly enough space to put a kitchen, bathroom with tub, living room and bedroom together. Yet many creative designs have emerged where all of these spaces can fit into a tiny house.
Tiny houses at one point could be built for $30,000 as opposed to the $150,000 for a regular house. People bought cheap shipping containers and converted them into homes. Then shipping containers drastically increased in price. Some managed to build and park their tiny homes on cheap lots of land or backyards of friends and family, but then laws and permits got in the way. It was illegal for units to have electrical or plumbing work done without official permits and licensed professionals, it was illegal to have ADUs (accessory dwelling units) if the lot wasn’t large enough, or in the wrong zoning area, or if the lot already had a shed on it, etc. The amount of regulations that had to be met just made the whole thing impossible for most people.
Some places did allow tiny homes and there were builders who made them to order, but then the cost of a done for you house put it in the same bracket as an average-sized house, completely defeating the purpose of the tiny home. The tiny home was attractive to people because it was a low-cost housing option, not because it was tiny. The size was a trade-off that many felt was worth it for the cost. If given a choice, most people would have liked a bit more space than a tiny house offered, especially if they had family living with them, but they would make it work if it meant they would have a significantly less or no financial burden associated with their home.
When we add the recent inflation of prices to the mix, no one could afford to pay for a tiny home just like they couldn’t afford a regular house. When a tiny house comes with more sacrifices such as little space to store one’s belongings or not being able to stand up in the bedroom area, or not having an actual tub in the bathroom, it goes without saying, it just isn’t worth it. There goes another option that could have provided shelter to low income individuals simply because it was priced and permitted out of the realm of possibility.
The dream of having a homestead, whether tiny, regular, or sizable seemed to get further and further out of sight for people. With inflation, even the middle-class were re-thinking big purchases like a home. The elderly were struggling to keep their places, those who had variable rate mortgages were horrified by their payments, the young adults did not have the funds to be independent from their families and the prices will most likely never go back to their pre-inflationary numbers. While tiny homes could have been the answer to these economic stressors, they simply went wherever dashed hopes go. Probably like ashes into the wind.
