Tiny Houses

Tiny Houses

MORE THAN A HOUSE, A LIFE STYLE

How much space do you need to live in? A frequent question among people of any age nowadays, who do not want to invest in overvalued homes or sign in for long term property loans. Tiny Houses come as a new housing option.

The concept emerged in the United States in the late 1990s, and had its biggest growth since the Country’s economic crisis in 2007.

As an alternative to the high cost of properties, especially in large urban centers, the tiny house movement grows due to the need to simplify life, reduce costs, settle debts and lower the environmental footprint.

With an area up to 38m2, they can be built on wheels for more freedom and tax reductions.

The building method follows the traditional North American ones, the structure is made of Steel Frame or Wood Frame. The internal and external finishing’s are made of wood, has windows and doors with high thermal insulation capacity.

The aim is to have an organized and functional home, making clever usage of spaces, with multifunction and customized furniture, such as the famous staircases cabinets. The space reduction makes residents more aware of what is really essential, and to practice conscious consumption. They can be equipped with solar energy, make reuse of rainwater and have a composting toilet, which brings them closer to the sustainable home concept.

According to residents and enthusiaststhe main benefits of living tiny are:

LOW COST

the space reduced and built efficiently makes basic bills such as water and light become 90% smaller than in a house of traditional size;

MORE FREE TIME

it can take only 30 minutes per week toclean and organize the entire house;

MORE OUTDOORS AND LOCALCOMMUNITY MOMENTS

it stimulates contact with its surroundings, and science has already proven that an outdoors and rich social life can relieve stress, improve memory, recover mental energy and increase creativity.

Although the footage is reduced, the building costs of a tiny house may be higher than we think, considering the number of windows and the need for tailor made furniture, the value paid for it is dilutedover time, since the basic housing costs are drastically reduced.

Living in a tiny house also has its inconveniences, for example on rainy or very cold days it is quite difficult to have many people over, making the bed can be a difficult task due to the low lofts/rooms ceiling height, and it does not offer much flexibility when it comes to renovations.

Nowadays tiny houses can be seen all over Canada, Australia, New Zealand and also in Europe. They began to emerge in South American countries like Brazil, a country with large housing deficit and high housing costs, even though it is all very new, the number of enthusiasts has been growing. Unlike the US where the zoning codes specifies the minimum size of houses and where citizens are not allowed to reside full-time in a house on wheels, in Brazil it’s quite different. Only private houses complexes have specifications on house sizes, and the Country laws allow citizens to live full-time on houses on wheels.

Although the concept of a tiny house is still mistaken with the Trailers and Motorhomes, or even Container Houses concepts, the media and projects in Brazil have been spreading the movement that emerges as a housing option and as a new opportunity for those who want to invest in the area.