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Tiny homes, the seemingly quirky, sustainable living trailers that were popularized during the 2010s recession, are being sought in greater numbers, according to manufacturers and industry analysts.
A manufacturer in California became so inundated with requests that he had to expand his warehouse from 12,000 square feet to 22,000 square feet, according to Yahoo News. 2020 wound up being a record year for the company and no one was more surprised than the owner.
Why would anyone want to live in tight quarters during COVID-19? Tiny houses typically max out around 400 square-feet.
The idea sounds counterintuitive during a pandemic when people are being forced to spend most of their time in their homes and maybe craving more space.
But tiny homes are being used to add more space to people’s lives offering simple living and mobility.
They’re being used for extra home office space, vacation getaways, and luxury trailer homes that can be transported to wide open places, among other things.
About 56 percent of Americans said they would move into a tiny house during the pandemic, according to a survey by financial company IPX 1031. People surveyed said the thing like best about tiny homes is the affordability, followed by efficiency and eco-friendliness.
Due to their smaller size, tiny homes are often more affordable than standard homes and may be able to fill a gap in the housing market - a dearth of one-bedroom units for single people and couples.
Homes for sale on tinyhomebuilders.com were priced $10,000-$100,000.
As excited as people are to buy tiny homes, it can be difficult to find a place to park one. Municipal and state laws have not always been kind to the new housing type. In many places, they’re illegal structures. In Massachusetts, for example, the state allows for tiny homes to be used as detached accessory dwellings, but a municipality can create bylaws to ban such units.
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