An interesting trend that has been steadily growing in popularity over the past year is the concept of abandoning traditional living in favour of a tiny home. With everything from studio flats to converted van living qualifying, it’s hard not to see the appeal of simplifying life in this way.
Originally gaining popularity in America, Canada and Australia, this trend has been slow to arrive in the UK but, with so many benefits associated with the tiny living lifestyle, it’s easy to see why we’ve finally seen the appeal. If you’re wondering what all the fuss is about, and are even considering whether or not the tiny living life is for you, we’re looking into all the pros and cons of swapping to a tiny home to help you make the choice.
What is a tiny house?
According to those living the tiny life, a tiny house is the perfect way to leave behind the complications of modern life and achieve a freer, happier lifestyle. The tiny living space, which accommodates necessities but very few extras, encourages a minimalist lifestyle which discards the importance of material possessions and replaces it with the more important experiences life has to offer. In less romantic terms, however, a tiny house is exactly as it sounds: a highly compact home. More often than not, these tiny houses retain all the modern day conveniences we rely on, such as an oven, shower, bed and television, but forgo the extra home comforts most of us indulge in.
Outside of the basic definition, tiny houses come in all shapes and tiny sizes, with some being like stationary cabins and others, such as renovated vans, functioning as mobile tiny homes. Both types encourage the same base lifestyle of minimalism and anti-materialism, but while the first allows for a more traditional home base, the second is better suited to travelling.
Benefits of a tiny home
- Eco-friendly – One of the biggest advantages of swapping from traditional homes to a tiny house is the positive contribution such a choice can make to the environment. Not only do the more extreme ‘van life’ tiny homes encourage an off the grid lifestyle that consumes significantly fewer carbon emissions than traditional living, but even more mainstream tiny homes can have an impact. Smaller and easier to build with eco-conscious designs than mass constructed new homes, tiny homes require less gas and electricity to heat, light and keep functioning, making them excellent options for those that want to lessen their carbon footprint and help do their part to save the planet from the climate crisis.
- Cheaper living – Beyond being an environmentally conscious decision, the smaller carbon footprint of tiny homes also translates into reduced monthly bills as you’ll consume considerably fewer utilities. The chance to save money is a huge benefit of moving into a tiny home, and one that has motivated many towards making the decision already. Outside of monthly bills, tiny homes are also significantly cheaper than traditional homes to buy in the first instance, and can even provide a realistic alternative to taking out a mortgage, allowing you to keep a larger portion of your salary to put towards whatever you like.
- Housing problem – The housing crisis in the UK is undeniable, with not enough affordable housing being built to support the current population, and not enough space to build more without putting our greenbelt and other sites of natural beauty at risk, a solution is not an easy find. While we aren’t suggesting that every home should be converted into a tiny home to allow for more space, those that choose to adopt the tiny living life are definitely helping towards easing the crisis.
- Travel opportunities – While this benefit is entirely dependent on your preference for a mobile tiny home instead of a stationary one, a major trend that has appeared on the internet, and Youtube in particular, is people going on worldwide adventures in their tiny home. This being said, the money saving opportunities of tiny living does also increase your likelihood of saving enough to travel, if that’s something you choose to save for, so having a stationary tiny home could still allow for this benefit.
Negatives of a tiny home
- Purchasing land – Unlike traditional homes, tiny homes come with a little unavoidable paperwork and, in some cases, additional costs due to the fact they aren’t always sold on a plot of land. For stationary tiny homes, you will most likely have to apply for planning permission on your plot of land or, if you’d prefer a mobile tiny home, you’ll need to ensure it conforms to developmental control laws (which require proof of mobility and size) so that you can keep the home on your property without needing planning permission.
- Entertaining visitors – While hosting visitors and house guests isn’t exactly a possibility right now, once lockdown measures ease and we’re free to invite over friends and family once more, the lack of entertaining space may pose a problem. For summer, this could be avoided by utilising outside space to host gatherings but, in winter, you may either have to come up with a more creative solution or become the guest instead of the host.
- Lack of space – There’s no getting around it, while the prospect of achieving a true minimalist lifestyle through living in a tiny home is a tempting idea, the reality of packing a whole life’s worth of possessions into such a small space is undoubtedly a challenge. Fortunately, nowhere in the rules does it say you have to throw away all your worldly possessions, you can always keep your necessities with you and utilise nearby self storage as a solution to your space problems. This can come in particularly useful if you’re only planning to use your tiny home on a temporary basis while travelling. There are so many ways of doing this, with options ranging from seasonally storing clothes and decorations all the way to keeping only your most treasured possessions such as family heirlooms and collections.
Hiring a self storage unit is the perfect way to fully immerse yourself in the minimalist, tiny home lifestyle without giving up your whole life to do it. Even better, if you’re around the Manchester area, you can utilise our safe, secure storage solutions all the while benefiting from our flexible contracts so you can use your space for as long or as little as you need.
If you’re looking to start your tiny home life and want to use one of our storage units to keep your belongings safe, just contact our friendly staff on 08003100450, or visit our Personal Storage page for more information.
