Tiny House Zoning and Regulations: What You Need to Know

Why Do Local Governments Prohibit Tiny Homes?

There are several reasons local governments prohibit tiny homes and why they still haven’t become entirely mainstream. 

• Concerns about Property Values: Imagine a suburban neighborhood filled with $400,000 McMansions. For many people, these houses represent their significant financial investment and their primary source of savings. The fear is that if these areas were to be “overrun” by tiny homes, property values could decrease and affect other homeowners' savings and investments. Unfortunately, local officials usually fail to realize that most tiny homeowners would rarely consider placing a tiny home in suburban areas where land values might often be twice the price of the tiny home itself. 
• Confusion about How to Classify Them: Another zoning and ordinance-related concern with tiny homes is that many housing officials have no idea how to classify them. Are they RVs, mobile homes, backyard cottages, or something completely different? The fact that tiny houses are relatively new to the housing market has left many local governments unsure how to classify them and what type of zoning and regulations they fall under. 
• The Mobility of Tiny Homes: Since many tiny homes are built on wheels, there is certainly a gray area regarding zoning and regulations. If tiny houses are built on a foundation, they must adhere to local building and zoning regulations. When they are built off-site and moved around regularly, however, it can be hard to determine what set of zoning and regulations they must follow. 
• The Size Prevents Conformity to the Established Rules: The relatively small interior size of tiny homes makes it nearly impossible to adhere to some of the most common building standards and regulations. For example, the stairs on a tiny home will usually have to be steeper than regulation to fit into the house design. The ceiling height in loft areas is usually well under the regulation height. Until building officials modify these regulations to the specific context of tiny homes, many of these homes will continue to be breaking code.