Talking to my American cousin he tells me he's working on more and more tiny and small home project and wondered why the concept hadn't taken off here! Having looked at various web sites they can look very good and make great use of the limited space, no doubt I'll be incorporating some of the best ideas into next years garden annexe project.

Posted By: TriassicTalking to my American cousin he tells me he's working on more and more tiny and small home project

How big is "small" or "tiny" though in the US mind? Average new build in the US is now 2300 square feet (211 m^2) whereas the average 4-bed detached new build in the UK is 884 square feet (81 m^2). I'm sure most Americans would consider the UK average to be "tiny".

Paul in Montreal.

Posted By: Paul in MontrealHow big is "small" or "tiny" though in the US mind?

From: http://www.thetinylife.com/what-is-the-tiny-house-movement/
"The typical American home is around 2600 square feet, while the typical small or tiny house is around 100-400 square feet."

Posted By: SteamyTeaJust sets a new price for a lower size.

Don't really follow that. Houses cost what they cost - it's regulation (and land costs which are regulation driven) which push the price up.

Tiny houses do tend to be quite a lot more expensive per m² just because the have more wall area for a given amount of floor area and also because things tend to be more intricate and detailed to make.

As Skyewright says, the tiny house movement is thinking of houses around 100 to 400 square feet. Typical constraints are a 12'×12' limit to avoid some zoning regulations or 8'6" × approx 20' to allow the houses to be mobile.

House prices are set by supply and demand, just like everything else. If the supply of money is good, prices go up, if the supply of goods is up, then the price goes down.
Too many people forget that house prices are really governed by the money supply and not the supply of housing.
So if we started building smaller houses they would cost the same as the smaller houses of today. It is how much people are willing to pay.
As almost all houses are sold, the price is too cheap. It may not be cheap enough for some people, but the lenders (and sellers) have collectively decided that those people cannot afford them.
People debate all sorts of reasons why housing is 'expensive' and how the market is skewed in certain places and sectors, how local councils are restricting the supply of land, how large building firms are keeping the price artificially high. Economic theories paint a different picture. The reason that houses are not being built in great numbers is that there is not a real demand, we have enough housing, relatively few people are genuinely homeless.
What we do have in the UK is a strange idea that we are entitled to a home of our own, and that we should be able to move easily, cheaply and quickly, that we should be able to build what we like, where we like. Just not the case and I don't think it ever has been.

They don't particular rise because of restrictions or no, but if we were allowed to build Tiny Houses (as opposed to living in one built as a shed or caravan) then they would become the new starter home, and attract the same price as today's starter homes. People tend to buy up to what they can afford to borrow or have laying about in cash rather than what something is realistically worth for its utility value.

Part of the problem might be that small new houses are a just like bigger houses only smaller, if you see what I mean; “tiny” houses tend to designed to make really good use of the available space (one of the reasons they tend to be more expensive per m²).

Also, a lot of houses are built for a couple with between 1.37 and 2.4 children¹ whereas tiny houses are typically for single people or couples. One of the reasons I've moved away from the SE of England is that it's simply impossible² for a single person to get a suitable sized home there which is sufficiently detached to know they're not going to have a disturbed night's sleep from neighbour's noise.

My new house design is relatively small (just under 60 m², nothing like tiny, though) finished floor area but I think that I'll effectively have more available space than in the 80 m² semi I had in High Wycombe which was divided up in a way which left a lot of unusable space for my purposes.

Tiny houses suit specific people with specific lifestyles. Part of the problem is that a lot of the existing housing is built without a clear idea of who they're supposed to be for with the result that it's a bit of compromise which doesn't really suit anybody: too small for families but with wasted space for single people or couples.

¹ SIlly made-up numbers.

² Or, at least, impossible simply.

Posted By: SteamyTeaToo many people forget that house prices are really governed by the money supply and not the supply of housing.

But the money supply is the limiting factor only because the supply of houses is limited. If there were reasonable houses standing empty waiting to be sold then no amount of over-lending would push the prices up.

Posted By: Ed DaviesPart of the problem is that a lot of the existing housing is built without a clear idea of who they're supposed to be for with the result that it's a bit of compromise which doesn't really suit anybody:

I will go along with that, my house has a living room that is really just a wider than normal corridor. My old Victorian Terrace in Aylesbury had the same problem until I rebuilt the dividing wall that someone had taken down.

Posted By: JontiEither it is supply and demand of finance and goods or it is just supply of finance. It cannot be both.

It can and is both, if finance is treated as income and goods are treated as wealth, both have a monitory value, though they are not connected until the assets are converted into cash.

Posted By: Ed DaviesIf there were reasonable houses standing empty waiting to be sold then no amount of over-lending would push the prices up.

There are reasonable houses that are currently empty waiting to be sold, trouble is there is a disconnect between sellers and purchasers.
Rather than people just convince themselves that suitable housing for them is out of reach financially, they should be contacting the sellers and making offers that they can afford, then up to the seller to accept or not.

Posted By: JontiAlso, your argument about smaller properties leading to a higher m2 price ( I guess this is what you want to say) is correct because there are certain fixed costs involved in house building regardless of the size of house.

Wasn't really my point, though the fixed costs to push the per square metre price up (a bath costs the same).
My point is that there is a lowest price than people will pay for a home, make the home smaller and the price is the same.

I am still perplexed by the lack of homes though, we have about 65 to 70m people in the UK, and about 28 to 30m homes, there is no actual lack of housing, just that some people want to own several and others just want to own 1.
The real problem is wealth distribution (note wealth not income).

I think that is the reality of the situation, why house sales are down, people are not that thick. Few people buy when something is getting cheaper, lots buy when they know the price is going up. Only got to look at transport fuel and tobacco sales on budget day.