You can live quite comfortably in less than 400 square feet. New Yorkers do it all the time. People all over the world do it. One of the things that I loved about England when I was there this summer was how small the houses were. But in America, the banks, the Realtors and the industries that thrive on BIG want us to have bigger houses, more stuff and more expensive housing. Why? Money. Greed.

The banks and the housing industry and local zoning boards have made it ILLEGAL to live in tiny houses. They paired up with local, state and federal agencies to insist on minimum sizes for houses. They control the square footage and MAKE you build big. They want more profit per structure. So we have on McMansions which only the rich can afford!! Why??? We put college students in tiny rooms for four years. We have an RV industry in which millions of people live in the equivalent of 140 square feet. Navy sailors live in small spaces, as do any of our military. We house prisoners in tiny cells no larger than 65 square feet and call that humane, so why not allow people to live in 140 or 200, or 500 square feet if they want?

It is possible to build and live in an $18,000 home. But not legal. You have to put it on wheels and call it a mobile home to make it legal. So the poor and the homeless are shut out of affordable housing. They can’t afford to buy land and build big homes. They end up in trailer parks with sub-standard mobile homes that the mobile home industry under-builds and overcharges for (I know, I was once the Assistant Advertising Director for Clayton Homes. Mobile homes are a rip-off.) You’re better off buying a stick built home or a modular or SIPS home.

Jay Schafer designs and builds tiny homes. Visit his website and see. Or buy his book - the one from his website, not Amazon. For young singles, seniors, the elderly, couples, the poor - these homes are affordable. There are contractors who can build developments and rent them at affordable prices, heat and cool them affordabley. So why aren’t more people complaining about it? Because they don’t realize it’s going on.

Homelessness is fixable. After mental illness and substance abuse, non-affordable housing is the biggest reason for homelessness. Do we NEED $500,000 homes for four people?! NO! We do need something for under $50,000 or $25,000. We need small homes. Tiny homes, like the ones Jay builds, like the one Ross Chapin builds, and that so many others are designing and building are a solution. They will save our resources, save our environment, provide affordable housing to the poor and cure many ills.

Next time you’re impressed by a big home, ask yourself why? Are you comfortable in a hotel room? When you’re at home how much space do you really use? Does your family occupy one, two or three rooms at most? The size of most apartments is 400 to 1,200 square feet. If it’s okay to live in an apartment that size (hello New Yorkers!!) then why not allow people to build small houses that size?

Just one more way poor people get screwed over housing.