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Are tiny homes the solution to homelessness
- 1. Are Tiny Homesthe Solution to Homelessness? The tiny home movement began as a project to see what it would be like living in a smaller space. Sarah Susanka, the architect who started the tiny house movement, decided that as the average American house got larger year on year, she wanted to go back to the way things used to be. She wanted to prove that houses don’t need to be so large to be functional and by having smaller homes you could save money on bills and also fit more homes into a certain plot of land. She decided to “build better, not bigger”. She built her own tiny home so that she could test her theory and as she planned and drew the initial designs, got her self build insurance and assembled a small team to put the house together. The house was designed to be no larger than 500 square feet. Before long others began to adopt her view and around the turn of the millennium designers started building tiny villages with lots of tiny homes as a means to combat local homelessness. In 2004, Dignity Village opened on a permanent site in Portland, promising self-built shelter for 60 people per night. It was formerly a tent camp. The same can be said for Quixote Village, a 30-home community that opened on Christmas Eve in Olympia, Washington in 2013. These types of villages now home thousands of former homeless people across America. The beauty of these villages is that often the homeless people moving in will be asked to help build the homes themselves, teaching them valuable skills they may be able to use again and giving them a great sense of achievement. The building of tiny homes can be quite an expensive process but when done to a larger scale it can be made a lot cheaper. The process begins with finding a plot of land, designing the layout of the plot and deciding what the homes will look like. Tiny homes have been known to be made out a wide variety of materials, and recycled materials inparticular, prove very popular as they are seen as more eco-friendly. Then the builders will need to seek self-build insurance for their tiny homes. Finally, the currently homeless people are brought in to help erect the homes for them to move in to. The tiny home movement is gathering pace in the UK too. All across the country self- builders are seeing the benefits that a smaller home can bring. If you are inspired by tiny homes and want to give building a tiny home a go, you will need to make sure you have your self-build insurance sorted beforehand. Why not get in touch with Proaktive and their experts will talk you through your self build insurance requirements. www.selfbuildinsure.co.uk