The world of small living and the Tiny House movement is in motion. While some initiatives are ending their activities, new opportunities for location and area development are emerging, and initiative groups remain highly motivated to create new places for small living and Tiny House communities.
The market for small living is growing, albeit gradually, and more and more opportunities for location and area development are appearing TinyFindy is growing along with this movement and continues to inspire new Tiny House enthusiasts and people interested in small living. As a cherry on top, the platform received the Best Website of the Year award in November.
With great enthusiasm we started this year by further improving the website with all the valuable tips we received from voters. One of the latest additions is a new category dedicated to initiative groups.
Image: Raymond Kool, founder and editor-in-chief Klein Wonen Magazine
Inspiring initiatives stop at their peak
Not all initiatives that share knowledge and information about Tiny Houses choose to continue their activities into the new year. Klein Wonen Magazine recently announced that the platform for information and news about small living and Tiny Houses will stop operating.
DemoParkNL, the outdoor exhibition of compact homes in Almere, has also informed us that the park will close its doors. The final viewing days are scheduled for March and April — the last opportunity to see several demo Tiny Houses in Almere in one location. If you are interested, make sure to take advantage of this unique opportunity.
Raymond Kool of Klein Wonen Magazine wrote in his press release:
“Making money was not the primary goal, but we also wanted to improve the image of small and alternative living and put it more firmly on the map. You can now see that the phenomena of Tiny Houses and small living enjoy nationwide recognition. We are happy that we were able to contribute to that.”
DemoParkNL is stopping, as the initiators themselves say, at its peak. On their website the organization writes:
“The interest in smaller living remains strong; however, the number of places where tiny or small homes can be built or lived in is still limited. The new Environment and Planning Act, which in theory gives municipalities more room to facilitate projects, has not yet resulted in many additional opportunities. Disappointing, especially when you see how many new initiatives there are.”
While we understand the arguments about location scarcity, TinyFindy looks to the future with confidence. A long-term vision and perseverance from initiative groups remain essential. TinyFindy and the Register van (aspirant) Tiny House bewoners of Marjolein Jonker continue to actively search for and share new initiative groups, locations and area developments within the community.
Image above and below: DemoParkNL in Almere
The future
Stichting Tiny House Nederland has achieved its main goal: Tiny Houses are now firmly on the map. An impressive achievement in just five years for a completely new housing concept — accomplished entirely by volunteers.
The website contains so much valuable and up-to-date information that TinyFindy is currently in discussions with Tiny House Nederland about taking over parts of this knowledge and making it available on the TinyFindy website, so that the information can remain accessible in the future.
TinyFindy founder Marjolein Jonker is optimistic about the developments:
“New locations continue to emerge and more and more permanent sites are being designated where either plots are sold for small living, or compact homes are developed and sold together with a plot for permanent residence.”
What Marjolein does see happening is that the experimental character of Tiny Houses is slowly disappearing as this housing type becomes more integrated into the regular housing market.
“It is becoming more professional and therefore more expensive, and appealing to a broader target group that wants to live small but has higher expectations in terms of space, layout, materials and plot size. Hopefully there will still be room for self-builders, collectives, idealists and minimalists, because they drive innovation. If Tiny Houses only move into a ‘scaling and rollout’ phase without leaving space for experimentation, we risk missing an opportunity for a large group of people to live in a way that truly suits them.”
Success and thanks
We would like to sincerely thank Klein Wonen Magazine and DemoParkNL for their contribution to the Tiny House world: for sharing news, spreading knowledge and showcasing ready-to-live Tiny Houses for new enthusiasts.
And not least for the always pleasant collaboration.
Thank you for your valuable work for the Tiny House movement: Raymond Kool and Ronald Lammers of Klein Wonen Magazine and Daan Fröger, Jorien van Santen and Rob Besemer of DemoParkNL.
Photocredits: DemoParkNL, Ronald Lammers
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