Editorial: Tiny homes a very Kiwi solution to housing crisis

Tom and Shaye Wilson in their Tiny House in Oratia, Auckland. Photo/file

Faced with ever-growing house prices, more and more people are showing an interest in "tiny houses".

Tiny houses are exactly what they sound like - small, often mobile, houses built to ensure every square inch of space is utilised in a practical way.

These homes are appealing to a range of different people - from those willing to look smaller to achieve home ownership dreams, to those who love minimalism and scorn materialistic clutter.

Interviewees in the Bay of Plenty Times Weekend envision a neighbourhood of tiny houses sharing communal facilities on a plot of land - not only lowering building and maintenance costs, but becoming more connected as a community.

I love the outside-the-box thinking these people are bringing to Tauranga's housing crisis. When faced with a problem, it's very Kiwi to come up with an innovative solution like tiny houses.

The trick is to find a way to make these homes work. Current planning rules allow for a minimum land area of 325sq m per house, and houses with wheels cannot be considered permanent homes.

These rules are there for a reason - we don't want a city with houses packed together cheek by jowl (although some may argue this is the exact picture of Papamoa).

But I don't see an issue with allowing dedicated groups of tiny house owners to live out their dreams - provided the people living in these homes actually want to be there.

My concern is that people looking to quickly house Tauranga's homeless families will see this as a quick solution and throw families together in groups of tiny house ghettos.

Housing is a desperate need for many in our community, but forcing people to live in tiny homes long-term is no solution. We don't want United States-style trailer parks in our country.