As someone who grew up in very nice “trailer parks”, it’s a bit of an obtuse statement.  Why can’t we address the idea of habitation and the artificial standards propped up by local building codes, which almost always heavily favor the house as an investment, rather than a habitat for living?  

That’s what the tiny home movement can address. 

It is entirely possible to build one of these yourself, and have it meet all the legal requirements. It is also not rocket science to make it as safe as a “real” house. 

What you end up with is a mobile home (US)/Caravan (UK), and then you have to deal with the usual mobile home problems: water, electricity, sewage, and parking.

There are lots of people doing this, and succeeding. There are books of plans to follow, websites, support groups, etc. There’s lots of discussions of all of the issues that are brought up: Legality, safety, how to find places to “park” etc.

I am tempted to get one, myself. It would be entirely legal for me to park it in my back yard (and I have no neighborhood association CCRs to prevent it). Technically, it WOULD be illegal for it to be permanently connected to water and electricity both, and it would also be illegal for people to live in it for extended periods of time.

But the key word is “technically.” It’s POSSIBLE that the kid and/or his “landlord” MIGHT get fined, but as long as they don’t piss off the neighbors, it is unlikely. Or at least, that’s what the popular opinion is.

I’ve decided what *I* really want is one of these, only cheaper: http://theqcabin.com/the-teardrop-cabin-kit-images/

And, well, everyone is allowed an opinion. The builder of this “tiny house” doesn’t have professional skills. He does have hobbyist skills. What’s wrong with that?

These “tiny houses” are cool, but maybe dial down the zealotry a bit, because they are, after all, just somewhat expensive, somewhat impractical hipster trailers. They are cool, and I’d love to build one, but they are what they are.

Would I have naysaying neighbors like you?

Especially if he plans on living in a college town, where so much money is made from renting, the regulations will almost assuredly be designed in such a way that they are impossible to fill, solely because they want to wring a  bit more money from him.

It’s not uncommon for mobile homes to be disallowed in an area (competes with the rental market), it’s not uncommon for it to be disallowed to accept money in exchange for letting someone park on your land (competes with the parking lot market) and it’s often enough not allowed to sleep outside of a fixed residential structure. They told me “liability concerns” for that one, although I’m pretty sure it’s about image maintenance.

I wish him the best of luck though – may he manage to evade the attention of the police and local government.

http://www.pdx.edu/sites/www.pdx.edu.housing/files/KAH1.pdf

I’m not saying that the work isn’t impressive, it is.  I’ve built garden sheds and they alone are a lot of work without even getting into the realm of power and water.  I see him as having developed a wonderful set of skills for a non-college worker or field foreman or for maybe a college-bound architecture student, but otherwise this falls into the hobbyist set of skills.   This is something that I’d expect to see hit the festival circuit, provided that it handles being towed around constantly without breaking up.  For permanent use, it’ll only really make it in his parents’ yard, and then only because no one has brought up the code violations.

A coastal equivalent is a boat – which can (in Canada and I think anywhere) be anchored free for up to a year.  Some maintenance required, but boat living is grand.  I lived on a 36 foot houseboat for 3 years in my early 20s and am better for it.