On May 21st I wrote an article about your options to do with legal parking and living locations for your Tiny House, because it is the number one question I get on the subject. “Is that allowed?” I hear people say, and also “that won’t be allowed in the Netherlands, with all the rules we have”. Yes, it’s true, you cannot put your house anywhere and when you want to live tiny legally, you might well have a long and tiring road ahead. But that’s not necessarily always the case! Times change, and a growing number of municipalities are open to alternative and sustainable ways of living. And that’s a good thing too, because there is a desperate shortage of affordable houses for starters, students, and the elderly. At the same time the realization that climate change is not a joke is starting to sink in and with it, the need to find sustainable living alternatives. Below, I’m putting some great initiatives in the spotlight.
Ecodorp Boekel
In Boekel in Brabant an eco village is being realized where small spaces and houses are allowed. They plan to build 5 different Tiny Houses there, preferably using a variety of sustainable materials. Ad Vlems, chairman of the eco village, has presented the plans to approximately 30 officials from multiple ministries during the ‘Festival van de Crisis- en herstelwet’. If the Tiny Houses are well received, the building regulations will be changed to allow anyone who wants to build smaller to do so. More information: http://www.ecodorpboekel.nl/
@KomPost Zutphen
@KomPost Zutphen is the first @Kompost project to be realized. The living component is to be combined with food production, an ecological nature reserve, and some other functions. The location is situated by the IJssel and is being made available by the council of Zutphen until 2022. Temporary homes will be placed for sale on the plot, which is named Kompostwoningen. The houses are made out of solid wood, detached, movable, complete, sustainable and self-sufficient, they are compact family homes of 75 m2. This might not technically be called a Tiny House, but the idea is very much the same and who knows, perhaps there will be more Kompost projects in the future with space for actual Tiny Houses? The plan is that the entire ‘village’ will move to a new location once the deadline for this location has passed. More information: http://www.komposthelbergen.nl/
Urban Greeners – Floriade 2022
In 2022 Almere will be hosting the world horticulture exhibition Floriade 2022: Growing Green Cities. And that means that Almere will be working on a Green City in the coming years: a city that produces its own food and energy, filters its own water, recycles its own waste and with all that, will be mostly self-sufficient. The ‘Urban Greeners’, a group of young entrepreneurs who want to build a sustainable future together, play a huge part in this transition. They have carte blanche within Floriade to develop their own vision for the future and have an island of their own to work on different projects and undertakings. Included in the Urban Greeners are Lena and Laurens van de Wal, Tiny House enthusiasts and creators of the blog tinyhuis.nl. So, chances are that Almere will have space for Tiny Houses in the near future! More information: http://www.urbangreeners.com/urban-greeners
Undoubtedly, there are more initiatives similar to these out there and I would love to hear about them, and possibly even write about them in this blog. Do you know of any projects now or in the near future that would make living in a Tiny House possible? Send me an email: info@marjoleininhetklein.com.
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