Learning how to build a budget home or out-building is proving popular with Sydneysiders attending courses organised by the Bower Co-operative and TAFE.
One unexpected downside of living in a trendy tiny house is that they’re easier to steal than a full-sized home.
Californian woman Malinda Crichton had to find this out the hard way when she woke up and couldn’t find the 10-metre-long tiny house normally parked on her property.
The West Sacramento Police Department said it was definitely the first time they’d heard of a house being stolen.
Malinda Crichton had her tiny house stolen, thankfully it was returned several hours later. Photo: Instagram
Crichton called them immediately and began searching the neighbourhood for the home on wheels.
“The longer I waited the further away they could be driving with my tiny house, they could have been three states away,” she told the Huffington Post.
The house was eventually found around midday parked behind a shopping mall several blocks away.
Crichton paid for a tow truck to return the tiny house and she says she’s planning to improve its security – thieves broke a padlock that hooked the house to the trailer.
Crichton lives in a cottage with the tiny house parked nearby while it’s being built, yet police say even though it’s uncompleted it’s valued around $US50,000.
The home has two storeys and a front verandah with timber interiors and steel outside and it can be towed and parked anywhere.
While she was baffled by the ordeal, Crichton also said she hopes people aren’t deterred from taking up tiny house living.
Crichton began the project three years ago, deciding she needed to live somewhere “chemical free” to fix her auto-immune health problems.
She is fundraising for a project that teaches others how to build chemical-free tiny houses, so they can live rent free.
Rising house prices and a desire to live an alternative lifestyle are seeing more Australians are moving into tiny houses as well.