Tiny Homes, Affordable Permanent Housing for College Aged Foster Youth in California
California housing is some of the most expensive in the nation. Homeownership in California has never been more unattainable, with the median home price exceeding $800,000. That’s why Finally Family Homes has developed an innovative Tiny House Ownership program to get these young adults into safe housing they can proudly own for life.
One of the most significant challenges for California foster youth sent out of foster care alone is finding a place to call home. Even “affordable housing” is out of reach, with long waiting lists and red tape in the way.
At Finally Family Homes, it’s our mission to partner with youth aging out of foster care to help them achieve lasting success.
We work alongside these promising young adults to help them build to own their own tiny houses on wheels in Santa Clarita, CA. We are literally creating affordable housing while making ownership attainable to college aged foster youth for a fraction of the cost of low-income housing.
About Tiny Homes in California
If you aren’t familiar with tiny homes on wheels, you may be wondering:
- Are tiny homes legal in California?
- What cities in California allow tiny homes?
- How much does a tiny home cost in California?
- Can you permanently live in a tiny home?
Before we address these questions, we’d also like to clarify that these are not the tiny homes in the “tiny home villages” that have popped up around Los Angeles as temporary shelters. Our tiny homes are essentially beautiful condos on wheels – with kitchens and bathrooms.
Are Tiny Homes Legal in California?
Tiny homes aren’t technically “illegal” anywhere in California. That is to say, they aren’t necessarily specifically outlawed. But depending on your jurisdiction, they could be categorized in a way that violates zoning laws. For example, a city may have laws against living in a recreational vehicle in certain zones. You could get into trouble if you park (and live) in a back yard in that city, since they consider a tiny house a recreational vehicle.
According to Business Insider, California is the most popular place in the country for tiny home living. In fact, Fresno was the first city in the nation to approve tiny homes on wheels as legal dwelling units. Parking a tiny home on wheels as a back yard ADU in Los Angeles became legal in December 2019. There are many tiny home communities all around California.
Cities in Calfiornia That Allow Tiny Homes
California City allows Tiny Houses on single lots, not just as ADUs! Of course you can always park a tiny house in a tiny home village. Many mobile home and RV communities also allow tiny homes on wheels to park there.
Several cities across the state allow them:
- Los Angeles (visit here to see LA zoning laws for tiny houses on wheels)
- Richmond
- San Jose
- San Diego
- Placer County
- Santa Clara County
You can read more here about the many places to legally place a tiny house on wheels in California.
How Much Tiny Homes Cost
The cost of building a tiny house varies wildly. Jay Shafer, the Godfather of the tiny home movement, built this house for $5,000. But that was a while ago, and definitely one of the cheapest tiny homes. On the high end, larger, more decked-out tiny homes can go for $200,000 or more.
If you’re wondering, “Is buying or building a tiny house cheaper?” Generally speaking, for those who build, it will cost about half as much to build it yourself. That’s because labor is expensive. However, your time is also valuable. If you have a lot of it an some skills, it may be worth it to build your own. For safety purposes, it’s important that you get skilled help where needed (electrical, plumbing, etc.). The risks of shoddy work could negate any of the savings.
At Finally Family Homes, our program isn’t about giving away housing. As a part of the program our participants are involved in the building process. They learn basic construction skills as well as life skills in a caring and fun environment. With the help of donated materials and volunteer skilled laborers, we estimate we can build our tiny houses at Finally Family Homes for about $30,000. The youth who receive a tiny house are required to put in hundreds of hours building as well as contributing financially to the cost of the tiny house (mostly in finishing products).
Also keep in mind we aren’t building luxury tiny homes, these are “starter homes” which is appropriate for a young adult starting out on their own. We do allow the young adults to “upgrade” certain things if they’ve saved up and can pay for it.
Thank you to Pad Tiny Houses for generously sharing your beautiful Hikari tiny house plans with us. Visit Pad Tiny Houses to learn more about their designs and homes.
You Can Permanently Live in a Tiny Home in California
You can absolutely live permanently live in a tiny house in California and many other places!
In fact, that’s a huge part of the draw for us at Finally Family Homes – giving permanency to these young adults who’ve lacked it for so long. Not only can they live in a place they own, they’ll be able to fix it and make upgrades, having learned the skills to build it. If their living situation changes, they can take it with them to the next opportunity whether it’s graduate school or a new job. In this way it’s more permanent than house a foundation.
How Tiny House Ownership Benefits Our Youth and Community
There’s an affordable housing crisis, which is a major contributor to our homelessness crisis in California. Bulding tiny homes on wheels cuts through red tape and allows building to be completed more quickly.
When a young adult joins our Tiny House program, they will be given an opportunity to be placed in a caring and safe transitional host home while they work on their tiny house. They will receive additional wrap-around services, including life skills through our Life Launch program, to help them build and maintain success in multiple areas of life. And as we do for all our youth at Finally Family Homes, we care for our tiny home builders personally and intentionally through our Family Care program.
Living in an owned tiny home means that our youth can have more control over their environment. They can paint the walls, upgrade their bathroom, or make any other personalization or investment not allowed in a rental. They can make sure maintenance is done properly and in a timely manner, avoiding the risks of being stuck under a slumlord.
Why Our Youth Build Their Own Tiny Homes
By building their own tiny homes, our young adults learn valuable career skills in construction, one of the fastest-growing job markets in Southern California. By equipping our youth with construction skills, they help fill the gap of a local labor shortage. And our young adults become empowered to affordably maintain and upgrade their own homes.
Not only this, but as many tiny homeowners who’ve built their own tiny homes will tell you, you get a powerful sense of confidence from living in a home built by your own hands. You are surrounded by the work you’ve invested in and a reminder of your accomplishments.
Through our program, youth are given a path to ownership. Once they’ve put in their time and paid their part, they achieve full ownership.
How to Apply For Our Tiny House Pre-Apprenticeship to Ownership Program
To be eligible to participate in our tiny house program as a participant you must:
- Complete all required training and commitments.
- Live in Santa Clarita or surrounding areas
- Be 18-24 years of age
- Show proof of foster care experience
- Have a High School Diploma or GED
- Commit to pursuing employment or education while building your tiny house.
- Be willing to learn construction skills and participate in building your own tiny house.
- Be willing and able to save up to pay for up to $10,000 of the cost.
Please note that be accepted into the program does not guarantee that you will be able to receive a tiny home. Your participation and evidence towards personal and professional growth will be evaluated as you participate. What you can count on is to have a great opportunity to learn construction skills and receive support in a caring community. We strongly encourage taking construction technology classes at the College of the Canyons or elsewhere.
Applicant Process:
1. Submit your show of interest, sharing why you would be a good fit for our program.
2. Complete references.
3. Interview with Program Manager.
4. Submit a full application.
5. Participate in Host Home placement process if desired.
6. Begin learning construction skills.
How to Volunteer at Our Build Site
Are you interested in participating in our tiny house build? We need helping hands, especially skilled ones, but we’re willing to teach the willing.
We build on Saturdays (weather permitting) so our youth can focus on their other goals (work and/or schooling) during the week.
Curious if you could live in a tiny house?
