Tiny House Movement

SnixT

Being able to live mortgage/rent free is the dream. House prices and rent in the UK is quite frankly ridiculous.

Many people are miserable working long hours in jobs they don't really enjoy to be able to afford to pay their mortgage/rent which is often more than half their monthly wage. They are left with little to no money to be able to enjoy life. They are not happy.

Using such a high percentage of your monthly income to pay someone else's mortgage is not very appealing to me.

Generally speaking Tiny Housing can be cramped, however I have seen a couple of different examples where they are actually quite spacious and luxurious with more than enough space thanks to clever designs.
Many Tiny homes are built on the back of a trailer allowing them to be relocated easily.

I seen this one below which I think looks great. Very clever design allowing full sized kitchen, office space, comfortable sleeping space, toilet and shower.

//youtu.be/RSzgh3D7-Q0

I think this is a very interesting idea and hoped we could start a little discussion on it.

Benefits

1. Money Saving.
Tiny housing benefits from very small running costs. The cost of heating ect is minimal compared to any standard house/flat. No rent mortgage.

2. Freedom from Debt
Big houses come with big mortgages and without that mortgage, you don’t have to feel the stress of wondering how you’ll be able to make your payments if you were to somehow lose your job or come across other financial hardships.

3. Freedom from Stuff
When you live in a small home, you have very limited space. It will force you to declutter and only keep things that you use frequently (in many cases, you will have to have multiple uses for an item). Many people have houses full of things they don't need or use.

4. More Time
Homes are very time consuming. But what if you could vacuum your floor in 1 minute and just be done with it? The size of your home is inversely proportional to the free time that you have. With little home to take care of, you have plenty of time to do the things you really want to do. And that’s liberating.

5. Eco Friendly
Living in a smaller space, using less resources & energy, and having less stuff are all wonderful ways to live more lightly on the earth. Since living in a tiny home is less expensive, we can invest what money we are putting into the home on high-quality, eco-friendly materials that are better for us and the environment.



The Tiny House Movement is becoming more popular in the USA.
I think more people are starting to realise that they don't need giant living spaces and if they only have what they actually need can live very comfortably in smaller homes.
Most people who live in a Tiny House build it themselves which is an exciting challenge.


What is your views on this?
How easily achievable would this be in the UK? (Where to park it, laws ect?)

Alchemilla

I dont know but if it can get around planning rules then I am in!

SnixT

The video I linked above is one of the much better looking ones. I don't know the rules and regulations but because its on the back of a trailer/on wheels I don't know what kind of regulations their may be

edinburgher

Tiny houses are fascinating, but there are a raft of practicalities. First things first Al, where are your kids going to live?

I believe that you do not need planning permission for an off grid tiny house if it is in your garden or land that you own. Therein lies the rub as far as I am concerned - if you wanted to attach to the grid (for sewage, drinking water, or electricity etc.), it seems likely that you'd need planning permission. We're not very good at granting this for novel buildings in this country.

Being off grid would be quite tricky. Drinking water and water for washing etc. has to be physically hauled to your house, and solar panels/a small wind turbine won't generate much power. You certainly wouldn't be able to run a washing machine, even boiling kettles is quite demanding for a short period of time.

Also, you need to put it somewhere. The cost of land in the UK is the real reason that houses are so expensive (well, that and speculation/our inability to invest in asset classes other than our homes).

Alchemilla

There must be family tiny houses? Or we could each have our own.
Water no problem - borehole. Sewage no problem - septic tank. Wiggly amps no problem - solar panels.

edinburgher

Sewage no problem - septic tank

Surely you'd need planning permission for a septic tank?

SnixT

Most tiny houses don't need septic tanks as alternative toilets can be used like composting toilets I think... I don't know an awful lot about them however

I know solar panels can only do so much - I had considered not having a washer/dryer and using a pick up laundry service. The amount of money you are saving on your monthly bills I think this would be acceptable.

Alchemilla

I think you would be in a grey planning area anyway.

edinburgher

A pick up laundry service from/to where? Because I repeat my point that getting land is probably the challenging part of being a tiny house owner in the UK. Well, land anywhere near civilisation.

Secret_Saving_Squirrel

Yes, I think so too. I love the idea, especially from my minimalist perspective, but land seems to be always sold in big chunks for development. Unless you demolished an old house and put up two or three tiny ones, but then there is still planning permission.

It breaks my heart to see young people working crazy hours, never seeing their families or travelling, just to pay the mortgage on a very ordinary house. My eldest and his wife have just made the decision that they won't have children because they can't see any way of affording it. Crazy. Soon only the very rich and the very poor will be able to afford children unless we address the housing issues. And tiny houses would help.

Squirrel

Xx

SnixT

I was looking at it from the perspective of - I could sacrifice a year and a half of my life and save 90% of my wage each month. After that time period I would easily have enough to build a tiny house much like the one I seen in the youtube video above or something similar if anyone has seen any other good ones. I would have to make sacrifices short term and move back home but in the end it would leave me very well off with the majority of a wage to enjoy life with and have a place to call my own.

It seems to have everything I need and at this point seems like my only way of ever having somewhere to call my own.

There is obviously stumbling blocks to try and overcome like water, electricity ect but I think if enough like minded people work together there has got to be reasonable solutions or work arounds for all of them.

I won't ever be able to get a mortgage and rent in this country is a joke. Working your butt off each month to pay so much of it away to pay someone else's mortgage is very unappealing. Basically just throwing money down a black hole in rent. I have rented a couple of different places over the years and feel like we need to come up with an alternative option going forward.