The Growing trend of Tiny Houses.

The Growing Trend of Tiny Houses and Mobile Homes: The Solution to Rising Property Prices and the Need for Eco-Friendly Living

The property market has been increasingly difficult to navigate, especially for first-time buyers, and the prices of traditional homes are only getting higher. With this in mind, the idea of living in a tiny house or mobile home has gained popularity over the years as a more affordable option. Not only that, but it's also a more sustainable way of living.

Tiny houses and mobile homes are compact, self-contained homes that range from 100 to 400 square feet. They are built on a trailer, which makes them mobile and easy to transport. These homes have all the necessities of a regular house, including a kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom. They can be customized to fit the owner's preferences and are available in a variety of designs, from minimalist to luxurious.

One of the most significant benefits of living in a tiny house or mobile home is the cost savings. These homes are much cheaper than traditional homes, and they require less maintenance and upkeep. Additionally, because they are smaller, they use fewer resources such as electricity, gas, and water, making them more eco-friendly.

Another advantage is the mobility that comes with living in a tiny house or mobile home. They can be easily transported to different locations, making them perfect for those who enjoy traveling or moving frequently. They can also be set up in remote locations or on land that is not suitable for traditional homes.

At Tiny Tudor, we understand the need for affordable and eco-friendly housing, which is why we specialize in building tiny houses and mobile homes. We have over 35 years of experience in the construction industry, and all of that expertise is now going into building the best tiny homes and mobile homes in the UK. We build to the British Standard 3632 for park homes building regulations and offer a 10-year warranty on structures and a 5-year warranty on internal fit-outs. Our showrooms are available for viewing, and we take orders from all over the world and can ship to most countries.

If you're looking for a more sustainable and affordable way of living, consider a tiny house or mobile home. It's a growing trend that is here to stay. At Tiny Tudor, we're dedicated to providing the best quality tiny houses and mobile homes at an affordable price. Choose from a variety of styles, including Tiny House on Wheels, Shepherd Hut, Park Home, Mobile Home, Static Caravan, or Prefab Home, and enjoy the benefits of cheap housing in the UK.

How do Tiny Houses get their water and electric supplies?

How do Tiny Houses get their power and water supplies?

Tiny Houses, just like Caravans, RV’s, Tailer Homes, Static Caravans, Lodges and most Mobile Homes connect to the mains supply for both water and electricity. Gas, to supply the cookers and heating, are normally connected to gas bottles. If you are planning to stay on a Resort, you will find the water and electricity already provided by the Resort or Trailor Park as standard. (you will of course have to pay the monthly bill). However, if you are planning to stay on your own land plot, you will have to organise connection from the electricity company or the water company. The basic answer to the supply question is that Tiny Houses and Mobile Homes are designed with some form of hook up (connections) to plug into the mains. This is standard across the range.

We, at Tiny Tudor, get many inquiries about solar power and could you run the electrics from a solar panel system and would it be enough to run the Tiny House full time. The answer is YES. Solar power systems are getting better and better all the time and as long as you have enough sun and batteries to match the amount of power you need in your Tiny Home. Then Solar is a great option. This is called off grid power, as you are self-sufficient for providing your own electricity. Without getting too complicated in the explanation, the basic principle is to charge batteries from the solar panels, through a battery management system and then run the batteries through an inverter to increase the 12 volt battery power into 230 volt electricity to operate your TV, Microwave and Appliances.

To be off grid with a water supply. Holding tanks are fitted to the underside of the Tiny Houses. They normally hold 180 litres of clean water. Water pumps then supply the pressure to the showers and taps. Drainage water from the sinks and toilets also are held in storage tanks on the underside of the Tiny Houses. These tanks need to be emptied manually and tipped into the nearest government or resort drain and away with the sewage system as normal houses would. If you are looking to park on your own land plot, then small septic tanks (sewage treatment tanks) can be buried into the land and connect to your black water tank on the Tiny House. Once the septic tank has filtered and cleaned the sewage, the cleaned water soaks into the land. Should the septic tanks become overly full then they can be pumped out with sewage trucks as the old way of cesspits.

What’s the difference.

Towing Caravans, trailer homes, tiny houses, static caravans, park homes, residential homes, lodges, cabins, prefabricated homes. They have many names but, they all refer to factory fabricated mobile homes that don’t require a footing. Therefore, they are not permanent fixtures on the landscape, they are homes that can be moved, whether by your own car or craned onto a truck and driven away. The main difference between these types of houses is whether you can transport the houses in one piece or whether they must be broken down into sections.  Caravans and Tiny houses can be mostly hitched onto the back of a car and are towed under your own steam. Static caravans, park homes and lodges are mostly transported by trucks and require a crane to lift them and that leaves prefabricated houses which mostly come in sections and must be transported in pieces and assembled on site. Prefabricated houses are the most similar to traditional houses in their appearance and are normally the biggest of the mobile house range. As a buying customer, you really have to consider which of the mobile houses are going to best suit your needs. Clearly this is going to depend very much on budget and whether a land plot is already available and whether planning permission is required. If you are considering the prefabricated housing option, then contact your local planning department as different locations have different regulations. We will save that for another blog.

If we put the prefabricated houses to one side, then what’s the difference between the other mobile houses. Caravans, Tiny Houses and Trailer Homes are all built on a trailer chassis and can be towed by your own car. Static Caravans, Lodges and Cabins don’t have trailers and sit on legs. They require at least a concrete or gravel flat slab to locate them. Of all the towable range of mobile homes I would really only recommend a caravan to be of the holiday type and perhaps the weekend getaway. They are designed for frequent road use and the convenience of moving them under your own steam. Tiny Houses and Trailer Homes, although also built on trailers and designed to move with your own car, are more of a long term stay in one location and only moved when necessary to a new location. Caravans are much more compact and don’t have huge amounts of space therefore they suit short term living but are much more mobile. Tiny houses and Trailer Homes are built of traditional housing materials are much roomier for longer term living. Therefore, although still movable with your own car they suit longer term living much better. A major difference between Caravans and Tiny Houses is the fact that Tiny Houses are built over two levels making the bedrooms upstairs leaving all of the downstairs for living area. They have a height limit of 4.2m, whereas Caravans are built on only one level which means the bedrooms are combined with the rest of the living area making them far less roomy at a height limit of 3m. This is clearly a factor in your decision of which mobile house suits your needs best.

Now you have a better understanding about the different types of mobile housing what does Tiny Tudor design and build to be different?

At Tiny Tudor we have designed Tiny House trailers to be detachable from the houses. Our designs can then be either static or towable. We have crossed the barriers to combine both worlds. But still towable by your own car. When your house has been detached from the trailer it also leaves a convenient spare trailer for your other needs or park the trailer next to the tiny house and take our decking design on top. Now you have extended the living area of the house to make a perfect dinning area to be enjoyed in the summer. It’s all about thinking out of the traditional box and breaking the traditional idea of a mobile house. Check out the rest of our website to see details, designs and prices of all of our different models.

Are Tiny Houses legal do you need planning permission?

As with most countries, tiny homes are a relatively new concept which can be confusing to understand where they fit into the current written laws.

In general, tiny homes are designed and built to UK standards, therefore they will already cover the basic legalities. However, it is important to understand the laws to ensure you abide by them.

So, in this post, we're going to explain the following in more detail:

· Road Legality

· Planning laws (where you can and can't put your home)

· Council Tax (do you need to pay?)

Road Legality in your Tiny Home

Are you looking to buy a tiny home, to feel the freedom to roam and explore the best of what the UK has to offer? If that's a big YES, then making sure your home is road-legal will be your top priority.

To start, let's take a look at sizing. A tiny home must be no larger than 2.55m wide to be road legal in the UK, and 7m in length on a standard car licence. If you had a larger home in mind, you may want to consider choosing a more permanent location or changing your licence to category C1E (medium-sized goods vehicles with trailers) which can easily be obtained with lessons and a standard test.

Even with a C1E, your home will need to be 2.55m width to be road legal, and so you should check with your chosen company to ensure your tiny home fits the legal sizing for the UK.

What about the weight?

Just like legal sizing, there are also laws regarding how much weight you can tow. Interestingly, the date of which you passed your driving test will depend on how much you can tow on a standard driving licence.

If you passed your test before 1st January 1997, you may tow a vehicle and trailer combination of up to 8250kg. If you passed your test after 1st January 1997, you can tow a trailer not more than 3500kg (not including the weight of your car). Should you want to tow more weight than your category B licence allows you to, you can apply for a C1E licence allowing you to tow up to 12,000kg.

Aside from weight and size, the laws are rather limited and until the caravan laws change (which haven't been changed since 1960) your home is completely fine on the road as long as it fits the weight and size mentioned above.

Planning Laws & Planning Permission for Tiny Houses UK

So the good news for those who are planning to place their new tiny house in their back garden, can do so in most cases without planning permission, as long as the size doesn't exceed 65 x 22 ft. (19.8m x 6.7m), this is because their current legal definition is classed as a caravan. The main requirement by law is that members of the household should use the tiny house as an ‘additional living space’, which means renting out the home would not be an option without permission.

The tiny home cannot change the land it is sited on and must fit within the registered land title of the house. It cannot be placed outside of this space, such as outside of a gate or the house’s overall ‘curtilage’, otherwise planning permission will be required. If you're looking to purchase or rent land for your home, planning permission will be required if the tiny home is going to be a permanent fixture on the land, just like you would with a normal home.

There are some grey-areas within this regard of ‘curtilage’, especially for those of you that live on a farm and plan to/already keep farm animals, as the tiny home can in some cases be classed as a dwelling for farmers, their workers or for additional living space. We feel the best thing to do, to clarify this further, if you wish to go down this route of not requiring planning permission, which is known as ‘Permitted Development’, is to simply contact your local planning officer or chat with a planning consultant in your area.

For all planning permission enquiries, it really is best to speak with your local planning office, as they can give you the best advice. Ensure that you get EVERYTHING in writing, as we’ve heard of stories where one planning officer gives the green light to something - verbally - only to have a new officer come in and rubbish the project.

Where can I put my Tiny House in the UK?

This is a good question. It’s something we get A LOT. You can legally put your tiny house in a number of places including;

• Within the curtilage of your home/dwelling i.e in the garden

• On a plot of land, such as farmland for a period of 28 days or you can place it there for longer under permitted development rights and/or with a certificate of lawful development

• On a caravan site as tiny houses are movable homes on wheels, therefore they fall under the caravan rules & regulations - find sites that have long-term seasonal pitches

• On a park home / residential home site - this can be done if your tiny house is built to specific standards such as BS:E3632:2015 (must be no more than 3.05m tall)

• On land where you’ve applied for planning permission within a residential area

• On a glamping site for holiday let purposes (with planning permission approved)

• On a certified site, offered as a site management building - check out ‘freedom camping’

Council Tax - Do you need to pay?

 For those renting or purchasing land for your tiny home, you will be required to pay council tax as your tiny home will likely be your permanent residence. Those using their home as a holiday home, or as a secondary dwelling and have a full-time residence elsewhere will not be required to pay council tax.

Then there's that grey area again. Should you be placing your tiny home in your back garden, which is situated on your property, is not considered as a dwelling and is to be used as an additional living space by only members of that household. Therefore, a person from your household can live in a tiny home without paying council tax as the main dwelling is council tax liable, like a granny flat or annex would.

Note* During the time the tiny home is residing on your property, you will not need to pay council tax, however, as soon as you move it to private land, you will need to declare your new residence and arrange council tax accordingly.

Are tiny houses legal in the U.K?

Absolutely! A tiny house in the eyes of the law is a caravan, that is if it’s on a trailer or it’s movable, such as on a temporary foundation and removable via a truck. If a tiny house doesn’t have a trailer, then it could be classified as either a granny annexe / ancillary building and even a caravan still as the term does not cover a structure built for human habitation to ‘must’ have a trailer. Whatever classification it comes under, tiny houses are legal in the UK. The legality part comes into where to place your tiny house. As we mentioned above, for it to be a legal structure, you’ll more than likely need to apply for planning permission, if it has wheels or not.

Here’s the legal definition of a ‘caravan’;

Section 29 (1) of the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960 defined a caravan as:

“… Any structure designed or adapted for human habitation which is capable of being moved from one place to another (whether being towed, or by being transported on a motor vehicle or trailer) and any motor vehicle so designed or adapted.

You can legally live within the tiny house in a few different situations;

• In your garden or within the curtilage of your home if it’s used as a secondary building - not as the main dwelling.

• Under permitted development rules, you can place a tiny house on your land like you would a caravan (there are circumstances when you can’t potentially do this, such as in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) or near a heritage site (on the Stonehenge site for example).

• On a caravan site

• On a park home site

• On a glamping site or holiday let for commercial purposes

Things can get a little complicated with the planning issues surrounding tiny houses especially site licenses, but the main point is that owning and living within a tiny house is completely legal under many circumstances.

What’s a Tiny House?

What is a tiny house?

The term “Tiny House” doesn’t just refer to an architectural structure, but to a whole social and cultural movement. A whole subculture of people has arisen who eschew the traditional approach to housing (and the crippling costs that come with private rent or mortgage payments) by living in small self-contained, self-sufficient properties. Many homes are connected to the national grid, however it’s also possible to live without grid energy in a tiny home if you’re prepared to invest in the infrastructure.

Tiny homes (and tiny homesteading or lodges) are also at the centre of a green revolution. One that involves greener living with a significantly reduced carbon footprint, and less reliance on consumerism and the large quantities of waste that it creates.

Who is best suited to a tiny house?

One of the great things about tiny homes is that they are suitable for a wide range of uses and purposes. You can use yours to completely transform your life, live off the grid and reduce your carbon footprint. Or you can simply rely on it as an alternative form of housing.

While many people use tiny houses as their primary residences, they can also be used to give you additional, affordable living space to supplement your brick and mortar home. A tiny house is often more cost-effective than as loft conversion or similar extension on your property. And one that affords more autonomy and independence, too.

In the age of glamping, a growing number of people are looking into tiny houses as potential affordable holiday homes for when they need to get back in touch with nature without missing out on their creature comforts. You can even tow most tiny houses like a caravan.

But how practical and legal are they? How do you get your utilities?

How do tiny houses get water?

There are lots of ways to get water to your tiny home. Some people simply haul water from natural local sources to their tiny homes in large buckets, bottles or jugs. Others have systems that use a water tank (otherwise known as a “holding tank”) and and pump to get water to where they need it and provide the appropriate pressure. So you can experience the convenience of living in a regular home while living off the grid. While you’ll need to accommodate the tank itself, it doesn’t take up all that much space. They range in size from the size of a combi boiler to roughly the size of an Economy 7 storage tank, and can easily be concealed by a kitchen cupboard.

If your tiny house is a permanent fixture, it’s possible to get connected to the water main. See Ofwat’s website to get details on applying for a connection. Many tiny house owners prefer to use a hybrid system, filling their water tank from the mains safe in the knowledge that they can rely on their tank if they choose to go off-grid.

How do Tiny Houses get electricity?

As with water, tiny house owners can choose whether they want to get their electricity on or off the grid. Most tiny houses are connected to the national grid. If you want to connect to the grid, you’ll need to get in touch with your local Distribution Network Operator (DNO). You can find yours by visiting the Energy Networks Association website. The cost of connecting to the national grid depends on your DNO but you can expect to pay an average of around £1,790 for a new connection. Alternatively, you can invest in your own renewable energy infrastructure if you’d rather live completely off-grid, which brings us to…

How to live off the grid in a tiny house

Although many choose a tiny house as a solution to the problems presented by the housing market, there are also those who see it as a way to live a low-carbon, self-reliant lifestyle that’s disconnected from the energy grid. And while this requires some upfront investment, it could potentially prevent you from having to ever pay another water or energy bill.

Here are some tips to help you to live off the grid in your new tiny house:

Invest in a renewable energy infrastructure

You probably won’t want to give up the electrical conveniences that come with modern living from electric heaters to TV and digital devices. The good news is that you don’t have to. Many tiny houses have PV solar panels or domestic wind turbines (or both) that are used to generate energy for the home. This allows them to live off their own renewable energy. You can even use batteries to store your energy when you have an excess. This ensures that your supply is not interrupted in times when there is less sunlight. You can also use a solar water heater connected to your water tank to provide hot water for your tiny home. A ground source heat pump can also be used to heat your home with the solar energy that’s stored within the ground.

You may, however, also need to invest in a backup generator to prevent interruptions in your energy supply if you’re unable to generate your own renewable energy.

Use a storage tank for water

A storage tank can either be filled with water from the main or you can keep topping it up from a local water source. While this may be time consuming, it prevents you from ever needing to pay another water bill.

Decide how you want to deal with grey and black water

Speaking of water, you’ll need to figure out how your tiny house will deal with grey water (used water from showers, sinks etc.) and black water (water from the toilet). Many tiny houses have compost toilets that allow them to turn their toilet waste into plant fertiliser. Grey water can also be dumped into the ground to fertilise plants and trees.

Are tiny houses legal in the UK?

Because tiny houses are a relatively new phenomenon, there may be some confusion as to the legalities of living in a tiny house. So, let’s see if we can provide some clarification.

It is perfectly legal to live in a tiny house in the UK. The only legal complications come from where you choose to put it, as well as if you’re towing it on the road.

Towing your tiny house

Not all tiny houses in the UK are road legal. If you want to tow your Tiny House, effectively converting it into a high-spec caravan, it must be no larger than 2.55m wide, and 7m long. This is if the chassis and the Tiny House are part of each other in the structure. However if like Tiny Tudor Houses, the trailer is a separate entity and the trailer is designed for longer loads (the House being the load) then longer than 7m is possible. The maximum height is normally 4m as to avoid low hanging cables and bridges.

The weight of your home may also be an issue. Believe it or not, how much weight you can tow depends on when you passed your driving test.

If you have a category B license you can tow:

• A vehicle /trailer combination of up to 8250kg if you passed your driving test before 1st January 1997.

• A trailer of no more than 3500kg (not including the weight of your car) if you passed your test after 1st January 1997.

You can apply for a C1E driving licence allowing you to tow up to 12,000kg if you want to tow a heavier Tiny House.

How are Caravans and Tiny Houses made? How do they compare?

How are Caravans and Tiny Houses built?

Caravans are all built with traveling on the road in mind. They have to be built from materials that will flex and move with the traveling motion, yet be strong enough to maintain their structure. They are built from either a timber or steel frame and then cladded in fibreglass or plastic panels. Above all they have to be light enough to be towed by a family car. Tiny House structures are also built in a similar way. The main frame is normally made of timber or a galvanized steel. The first difference between Caravans and Tiny Houses is the cladding giving the final look. Tiny Houses are normally cladded in either tongued and grooved planks or what’s called shiplap. These are mostly made of wood. The inside of the Tiny Houses are cladded in plasterboard or fibreglass panels or will even continue the wood planking giving a very traditional cabin look and feel. I think you can already start to see the visual differences between Caravans and Tiny Houses in the respect that the Tiny Houses actually look like mini houses.

What about the inside?

This is where the big differences between the Caravans and the Tiny Houses come to light. Caravans have a height limit of 3m. This means that only a single floor of living area can be achieved. The bedroom, living room, kitchen and bathroom all have to be very cleverly integrated and quite often, what’s a living room by day must be altered to become the bedroom by night. The bathrooms have their toilets in the shower cubical to save space and the kitchens are more kitchenettes. All of the internal fixtures and furnishings, although incredibly cleverly designed to create a “have everything” layout, they feel cramped and small and are really designed for “short-term living”. The furniture is all specially made by the manufacturer and parts for repair can normally only be found by going back to the original company and order replacement parts. This can be very expensive and can take a long time to complete those repairs. This is probably the biggest disadvantage of the modern caravan. Tiny Houses in comparison, have a height limit of 4.2m. This allows the bedrooms to be located on the upper floor and opens a world of living area on the ground floor. A kitchen is literally a kitchen from a normal housing supplier like IKEA. The bathroom layout is using normal house showers, vanity sink units and toilets. located in a real sized bathroom and not a cabinet. Sofas and beds are also from traditional house furnishings. There are two major advantages to living in a Tiny House on a longer term. One is clearly the additional space, allowing a more comfortable atmosphere and the second is if a repair or replacement part is required, you just pop into your local DIY store like B&Q for example and buy the parts the same day and at a much-reduced price, compared to the caravan manufacturer. Electrical and water systems in Tiny Houses are also based on normal housing construction. Everything can be maintained easily.

I am not knocking caravans in any way. I just see them as being a different usage to a Tiny House. Buyers of mobile houses must choose what suits them best. If holidays, short stay accommodation and a large amount of travelling is required, then the Caravan is the most suited. However, if longer term accommodation is required with not so much travelling and easy maintenance is the plan then the choice has to be a Tiny House. Both have their good and bad sides, but if maintained properly, both could last you a lifetime.