As defined by the 2018 International Residential Code Appendix Q, a tiny house is ‘a dwelling unit with a maximum of 37 m2 (400 sq ft) of floor area, excluding lofts. Often synonymous with ‘micro-house, tiny homes are associated with cost-effective and simple living.
Actually, providing housing of any type to people experiencing homelessness reduces costs for municipalities, and tiny homes are one cost-effective solution. For cities such as Chicago, tiny houses are seen as an appealing option to close the gap between homelessness and having a home.
The San Francisco Bay Area uses micro-apartments and tiny houses to combat the housing crisis. Similar efforts of using tiny houses to house people are also ongoing in Oakland. In 2021, the California-based nonprofit organization Hope of the Valley funded and built 4 tiny home villages in Los Angeles, forming the first formal, legally uncontested tiny home project in the region. More informal efforts to build tiny homes for homeless communities had been made in the past by citizens in Los Angeles but were ultimately seized by the city due to concerns over sanitation.
Concerns over the efficacy of tiny homes for people experiencing homelessness persist. Some critics have argued that, similar to other forms of anti-homelessness legislation, tiny home villages are fundamentally punishing, designed to push tenants into less public spaces near city outskirts in an effort to marginalize unhoused people, rather than provide long-term stability.
More Reading: The Tiny House Movement
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