Elon Musk may be one of the richest men on the planet (£138 billion and counting), but recently the Tesla chief has sold six of his seven properties, shed most of his physical possessions and relocated to the unlikeliest of dwellings for a billionaire: a tiny house. Measuring only 375 sq ft, the moveable prefab unit in Boca Chica, Texas, is worth just $50,000 and is smaller than the minimum space standards for a London flat. Yet the mogul, who is renting it while he works on his SpaceX venture, described his humble abode as “kinda awesome”.
He is not the only one. Since the 2008 financial crash, when thousands downsized for a simpler life, the tiny house movement has taken off in the US, spawning a TV show, Tiny House Nation, and a huge internet following (the YouTube channel Living Big in a Tiny House has over four million subscribers). The definition of a tiny house is loose, but it roughly means a dwelling of 400 sq ft or less, often built on wheels so it can be towed, but unlike a caravan it is designed to resemble a house, with a pitched roof, two storeys, several windows and high-quality materials. The average cost is about £60,000.
While there are an estimated 10,000 people living in tiny houses in America, it is thought there are fewer than 200 in the UK; planning laws make it difficult to find a place to put them permanently. “The movement is almost underground here, with many owners using farmers or woodland to hide their homes,” says Dane Smith-Burchnell, co-owner of the Tiny Housing Co in Warwickshire. “I know of one couple who have put their tiny house under a tree so it doesn’t show up on Google satellite maps. The government has ignored the community for quite some time and don’t recognise the need for sustainable off-grid living in a small dwelling.”
Owners make use of loopholes and grey areas in planning, but the chances are slim of getting approval to live full-time in a tiny house on your land. That is starting to change. Rachel Butler, 52, is on a mission to establish Britain’s first tiny house community in Bristol, and has the backing of the mayor. The activist has established a Community Benefit Society that is poised to buy a brownfield site for £1 and is aiming for its scheme of 15 tiny houses to go on site in 18 months, subject to planning permission. There are plans for communal food-growing spaces, workshops, a dining hall and zero waste shop. It will be a mix of affordable rental and shared ownership.
“Tiny homes are about a simpler, stripped-back way of life and community self-sufficiency. At the moment you have to earn about £80,000 to buy a house. This gives young people hope,” Butler says.
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The lifestyle is increasingly being embraced by millennials who are priced off the ladder, want to escape the rat race, shed their possessions, reduce their carbon footprint and live closer to nature. Home meets some of them.
Alex Munro, self-employed gardener, 30, Scottish Highlands
A few years ago Alex Munro was living in a van with his girlfriend, touring the UK. His girlfriend introduced him to the tiny house concept, which was big in her native Australia. Even though their relationship did not last, his interest in tiny houses did. “I got hooked on the idea. I had worked on oil rigs so had saved some money, but I was of no fixed abode. I returned to the Highlands to be near my family, but I wanted a base of my own.”
Munro approached Tiny House Scotland, whose prices range from £50,000 to £85,000. But Munro negotiated a £40,000 deal for the shell of a tiny house, the NestPod Outback, that he could complete himself. He struck a deal with a farmer he worked with for a site — minimal rent in return for labour. Measuring 322 sq ft, the barn-style house is clad in western red cedar with an aluminium roof. Inside is a shower room, kitchen, living room and stairs up to a sleeping loft. “I can’t stand up in the bedroom because I am 6ft 3in, but everywhere else the house is designed so I don’t bang my head anywhere.”
Space-saving hacks include a living-room sofa with storage bins tucked underneath that slide out to double as coffee tables or transform the sofa into an extra bed. “I probably have more storage space than many London flats,” he jokes.
His bills are £10 a week for electricity (he is hooked up to the farm supply) and similar for gas (water is free from a spring on the farm). In the winter he keeps warm with a Dyson fan heater, but the timber walls are 20cm thick and insulated, and the 12 windows are double glazed. Living close to nature is a perk, he says, even if the house rattles in gales (it is fastened to the trailer and concrete blocks in the ground).
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Financial freedom is another plus. “I don’t have a mortgage hanging over me for my whole life.”
Cleaning the house only takes 15 minutes. And living tiny has forced him to be organised. “I can’t leave things lying about. There is no space to dump things and deal with later. And it really makes you think about what you need in life. I had way too many pots and pans, so I really streamlined. I now have just one pan and a frying pan.”
And the compost lavatory took some getting used to. “I literally shit in a bucket. And you have to separate your wee and poo. I was really nervous the first time I used it but I adapted quickly.”
He is evangelical about the lifestyle, but he is single. What happens if he meets a new partner who feels cramped? “One of the reasons I bought a house on wheels is so that if life changes, I can pick up my house and take it with me. One day I want to have a family and build a house, but I can use this as a holiday let, or put it in the garden and let my kids use it.”
Munro is frustrated by the planning obstacles that force many owners underground. “We are in a housing crisis. My generation can’t afford to buy a house. We are living with our parents into our thirties. If I build a house with my own money and people agree to let you have it on their land, what is the problem?”
Anna Leckey, yoga teacher and theatre company owner, 27, Belfast
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Four years ago Anna Leckey started watching tiny house videos on YouTube to reduce stress. “They seemed so simple, clean and organised. Everything had a place.”
When Covid hit and her flatmate’s boyfriend moved into their Belfast flatshare, she decided to go solo and bought a tiny house. Well, it is actually a glamping pod, with no wheels, that she bought second-hand for £5,500. But it sure is tiny: 156 sq ft; her father built a deck that is about the same size. She found an undisclosed location in the countryside where she lives for a nominal rent. Inside she has a sofa with storage underneath, kitchen with a toaster oven, one-ring induction hob, a mini fridge and fold-up table (she barbecues outside too). She has a standing desk, and her bed is a mattress on top of Ikea kitchen cabinets. Instead of a TV, she has a Nebula projector (the size of a Coke can), which she projects onto the wall when she wants to watch Netflix. “I gave most of my clothes and books to charity shops, and I kept only one box of sentimental items.”
There are a few downsides: she has no shower, so uses one at her yoga studio, and no washing machine, so she goes to the dry cleaner twice a week. Every time she boils an egg, the windows steam up, so she bought a dehumidifier.
But the financial, mental and environmental benefits make up for any bugbears. “My rent is minimal. I am a freelancer, and this allows me to say no to work and only accept jobs that are true to my values. With less stuff, my mind feels clear and clean. I spend a lot of time outside, I am more connected to nature; I have five chickens outside so I have fresh eggs every day. And I have only six plugs, so I produce less carbon.”
Leckey is campaigning to start a Tiny House Community in Belfast, one that is “empowered, ecologically conscious, diverse, inclusive and cross-generational”.
Chris March, builder, 39, Co Durham
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In 2009 Chris March was building mobile catering trucks. Then he discovered the tiny house movement on the internet, and in 2017 founded Tiny Eco Homes UK, which sells more than 20 homes a year to buyers across Europe, with prices ranging from £42,000 to £70,000. He practises what he preaches, living tiny on a rural plot. His house is about 236 sq ft, with one bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and living area, underfloor heating and storage under the stairs. Just don’t call it a caravan.
“Caravans are designed to fail. They are made from toxic materials and filled with plastic. My tiny houses have full timber construction with a lifetime warranty,” he says.
Plugged into an outdoor socket, his tiny house generates electricity and water bills of about £60 a month. “My bills are much lower. I used to live in rented farmhouses that were cold and draughty. I love being in my tiny house in winter. It is so warm. I would so much rather be sitting in my tiny house than in a proper house, it is so nice and cosy and I have everything I need. It just works.”
Small print
● In most cases planners will reject applications to have a tiny house on your land that is a permanent dwelling.
● Some tiny house dwellers get permission for a temporary structure while purportedly building another house.
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● Some councils allow them within the curtilage of your garden if they are a secondary dwelling (you can’t live in them full-time), as they would a caravan under permitted development.
● Some tiny house dwellers put them on glamping sites and let them out. March says some clients place them on caravan sites. But Smith-Burchnell says many caravan sites will not accept tiny houses as they are too tall.
● Most tiny house dwellers put them on a farm, in the woods or behind a hedge in a garden.
