Tiny House Communities – Held back by the System

With the high cost associated with living in Calgary many are exploring the possibilities of living tiny. Living in a tiny house you find freedom by living with less stress. It is a more affordable way of living, being more minimalistic, at usually less than a third of the cost of the average Calgary home. The problem is where do you put your tiny house in the city, because current land use regulations make it difficult.

Even though City Council is looking for ways to create more affordable housing they are eliminating existing affordable tiny house communities. The city is leaving low-income and retired homeowners with no place to go and destroying a close-knit community. When one lives in a tiny home they are more likely to be stimulated to venture forth into the community and connect with their neighbours instead of finding another room to lounge in. What city council needs to do now is come up with a land use variation of the residential manufactured home district bylaw (R-MH) with half the parcel size allowing the creation of unique affordable tiny house communities. This way tiny home owners own the land and cannot be forcibly be moved with no options.

Counsellor Ward Sutherland says; “The biggest expense... about these tiny houses is actually connecting it. They have to be connected to electricity, water, and wastewater, and in order to do that, unfortunately depending on the location, even the backyard can be up to $30,000”. Hooking up to water and wastewater should be mandatory, however electricity ought to be an option. Generating your own electricity not only saves you money, but also in the event of a disaster where the city is out of power, you will still be connected.

A substantial savings could also be had with connecting an entire neighbourhood at one time with the utilities.

Sutherland says the city has already adjusted some land use bylaws surrounding cottage homes and secondary suites to accommodate that, realizing that this is the right direction to go in. The city should go further and perform a pilot project creating a mixed tiny house community of fixed and mobile tiny houses on their own lots. The perfect spot for this community would be on the land the city purchased for the never-built East Hills Estate trailer park promised to the displaced Midfield Trailer Park residents.

This city needs more affordable housing now, not later after years of debating for the inevitable. There are many barely living from paycheck to paycheck with the majority of their monthly expense being housing. By reducing housing costs, in some cases up to 75%, allows someone with a low income to live much more comfortably.

There are many advantages to developing tiny house communities besides being inexpensive. By condensing our inner cities, we cut down travel time or even use eco-friendly transportation reducing pollution. We also stop urban land sprawl and consuming vital agricultural lands. 55% percent of tiny house owners tend to have more savings and over 65% have no debt. You also tend to collect a lot less, have less to worry about and more time to enjoy life.

The change will happen, so why not implement tiny house communities now and help the many that need comfortable, community oriented affordable housing now. Let us start a M.A.D. Movement and convince Calgary’s City Council to quit bickering and allow for the development of much needed tiny house communities.