Dive Brief:

• Building material supplier 84 Lumber has landed squarely on the tiny house bandwagon and has begun to offer a variety of packages, from a $6,884 DIY to a fully built home for $49,884. 
• The company has created a website aimed at tiny movement buyers. There are four models, all less than 200 square feet and all packages can be ordered at any of 84's 200 stores. 
• The only thing 84 does not provide, Curbed reported, is the zoning permission to plop a tiny house on a property. Although more cities are creating zoning allowances for tiny houses, many more have restrictions on homes of this size, which is probably why 84 includes a trailer with every package so that the owner is not subject to the same building codes and zoning as a house on a foundation would be.

Dive Insight:

The proliferation of tiny houses has been touch and go, primarily due to zoning laws and building codes. This uncertainty, along with doubt that tiny homes are here to stay, has prevented major developers from including micro-homes in their projects in any significant way. The exception would be companies like Sprout Tiny Homes, which is breaking ground on a 200-unit tiny house community in Colorado.

However, advocates say that tiny homes are the answer to the affordable housing crisis and don't suck up the resources necessary for larger homes. However, to counteract the aversion some potential tiny house residents might have to a simpler way of life, luxury models are becoming more popular, like those built by Tiny Heirloom, which start at $79,000.