What is the tiny house movement and how did it reach the UK?

The idea of a “tiny house” is said to have originated in the southern United States, with the ‘shotgun shack’ of the late 19^th century.

In the 20^th century, simple living and self sufficiency were embraced as part of the ‘back to the land’ movement.

In the latter part of the century came several books that celebrated the tiny home, including Tiny Houses (Lester Walker, 1987) and The Not So Big House (Sarah Susanka, 1997). In 1999, Jay Shafer built his first tiny house in Iowa and lived in it for five years; following this up with books such as The Small House Book (2010).

Thus blossomed the ‘tiny-house movement’, and there are now apparently over 15,000 small homes in the USA.

The movement is seemingly going from strength to strength, boosted by TV programmes (‘Living Small – Tiny House Documentary | ‘Tiny House Nation’), YouTube channels and Facebook groups, and a growing hoard of companies offering to build tiny homes.

The movement has crossed the Atlantic to the UK, where there is growing interest, partly due to the comparative affordability of tiny homes compared to, well, larger homes. Also tiny homes offer the potential for simple, eco-friendly living – often in transportable structures.

This desire for small moveable spaces has been around for a while – witness the popularity of caravans, campervans and motorhomes for holiday use. And of mobile homes, including the plethora of age-restricted park home sites in the UK. Perhaps we need some “under-50s” tiny home sites to balance things out?

Obviously there are pros and cons of the growth in popularity of tiny homes – in the UK we already have some of the smallest homes in Europe. And there are still the challenges of finding land and obtaining planning permission.

But with tiny home community groups forming in places like Bristol and Exeter, it feels like the tiny house movement is here to stay. The cost of living crisis, and the cost of space heating, being two factors that encourage compact living.

For more information about tiny homes – including what they are and whether they need planning permission – see our Tiny homes page.

Featured image: The NestHouse™ tiny house designed and built by Jonathan Avery of Tiny House Scotland (photo by Cavajunky, Wikimedia Commons)

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