Vancouver off site storage for British Columbia homes, Canada real estate, Canadian homes in BC

Off site storage is a must for Vancouver’s tiny homes

August 27, 2024

Tiny Living is all the buzz in Canada. All Canadians are feeling the impact of escalating housing costs, but none more so than those living in British Columbia. The province has the highest rate of unaffordable homes. Downtown Vancouver and Vancouver Island have seen house prices soar over the past decade, with the average value of a detached home increasing by 159 percent. Tiny homes are an elegant solution, but their compactness means storing day to day necessities becomes a serious challenge.

Vancouver off site storage for British Columbia homes

Using off-site storage in Vancouver

The rising popularity of tiny homes, along with more conventional small-scale dwellings like apartments, has led to a corresponding increase in companies offering self-storage facilities to Vancouver residents. For example, Sentinel Storage is a Canadian storage company that has storage units in Vancouver and all over Canada. The storage units range in size from four by five feet with a four foot ceiling to full size units measuring 15 by 25 feet, and prices start at $23 per week.

The ready availability of off-site storage means that tiny home owners can keep their living space clutter free, but still have a lifetime’s accumulation of belongings accessible in a matter of minutes. Professionally managed storage units are secure, temperature controlled and protected from rodents and insects, so property is safer than it would be in most garden sheds or outbuildings.

Tiny homes make sense in Canada’s housing crisis

20 years ago, tiny homes were of highly niche interest, sought out by those on the societal fringes who are passionate about their impact on the environment or are obsessed by a minimalist lifestyle. However, in the market conditions we see today in Vancouver, there is suddenly huge mainstream interest in tiny home living.

Buying a tiny home and combining it with rented off-site storage means there is no need to compromise or live a minimalist life. And as a result, thousands of Canadians are taking the concept seriously. In 2022, Hamilton in neighboring Ontario hosted Canada’s first Tiny Homes Show, and at the same time a 34-unit tiny home village opened in an unused housing lot in Duncan on Vancouver Island. Both the show and the pilot scheme were so successful that tiny living communities are starting to spring up across Greater Vancouver.

Suddenly, with a tiny home and a plot of land, Canadians can become homeowners – something that was beginning to look like an impossible dream for those living in Vancouver and Canada’s other major population hubs. And in most cases, it is a move that they do not regret. As well as being affordable to buy, they are also economic to maintain and have a lower impact on the environment. This is an increasingly important consideration for the new climate-conscious generation of homeowners.

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Challenges of living in a tiny home

There is no denying that tiny homes demand a change of perspective for anyone who grew up in a larger home. But the lack of physical space can be easily resolved through the outside storage options mentioned earlier. With facilities across Vancouver, finding one close to hand presents no difficulty.

Another challenge is that it can be difficult to get a mortgage for a tiny home. Tiny homes start at about $100,000, so while they are comparatively affordable, it is still a lot of money to pay upfront. Banks do not usually give mortgages for tiny homes, but the major tiny home companies such as Summit and Tea Cup offer finance terms for customers who meet credit referencing checks.

Changing attitudes towards tiny homes

A generation ago, those who chose tiny homes were often on the fringes of society. That is rapidly changing as tiny living becomes the most practical route into home ownership in the 2020s, but in some parts of Vancouver, old attitudes are hard to shift. This means those wanting to live in a tiny home in Vancouver might find their options somewhat restricted. Having said that, attitudes are changing, and there is a general shift toward an acceptance of tiny homes as part of the housing mix across Greater Vancouver.

In cities on the outskirts of Vancouver, such as Victoria and Nanaimo, affordable housing strategies are proactively encouraging tiny living. In Victoria, tiny homes are now permitted in backyards that currently allow garden suites, subject to a maximum monthly rent of $500. In Nanaimo, zoning regulations have been revised to permit more laneway houses.

More broadly, BC Housing’s 2021 report on tiny homes recommended their inclusion in the provincial building code proposed that they should be explored as an option for homelessness and acute housing situations. In Vancouver, the age of tiny homes is just beginning.

Comments on this guide to Vancouver off site storage for British Columbia homes article are welcome.

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