How much space do you need to live comfortably? Two thousand square feet is a standard norm for comfortable living space nowadays, but how much do we need to pay for that in a city? And is there even that much space dedicated for housing in most of the cities around the world today when real estate rates are soaring so high.
Micro houses provide you realistic habitats, which are only about 220 square feet more or less at places where it is not affordable to set up a conventional living space. Nevertheless, they provide all the standard amenities.
Benefits of Micro housing
1. Cheap solution
Definitely a cheaper solution to the existing housing problems in cities. You can easily rent, own or lease a condo out of a micro housing facility rather than a full-fledged apartment or home in the city.
2. Proximity to work places
Today the criteria of choosing your home zeroes are down to how close it is to work. Since workplaces are generally located in cities and well developed areas, general housing projects are not feasible, as they won’t generate as much revenue the land value demands. However, having a micro housing can be the solution because it offers housing by constraining the space, and it proves beneficial to both the owner and the builder.
3. Connectivity to work places through Public transportation.
Cities and big towns are usually well connected because of good public transportation systems. More people taking benefit of the public transportation system is a good example of a thriving society as it cuts back major spending on fossil fuels and protects the environment. This would be only possible if you commute to work from inside of the city.
4. Brand new living spaces
Since the concept of Micro housing is fairly recent, the structures and units are brand new. Tenants can experience new living experiences with negligible maintenance.
Drawbacks of Micro housing
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1. Too small a space
Micro housing offers small spaces, which might not be appropriate for a family. It targets single occupancy mostly. It is not beneficial for large families who would like to move to the cities and closer to work.
2. Sometimes more expensive
Since these units are new, it will have state of the art technology and fixtures in its living spaces, which are quite expensive and will reflect on the rent. Comparing it to an old 1BHK, it could sometimes be more expensive even though it offers much lesser space!
3. Not a practical replacement
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Micro housing cannot be a practical replacement for housing solutions in housing colonies, as the space required there is for a family of at least four members. Having said that, there are successful micro homes in Japan for quite some time now, but they heavily depend on high designs and technology. In parts of the world, where they are planning to set up micro housing in housing colonies, it would be extra burden to introduce such high tech units.
4. No parking space
Even though public transport can be used every day for commuting to work, if the tenant owns an automobile of his own, he would find them inconvenient. These micro housing facilities come without parking facilities unlike your regular residential apartment buildings. Tenants of these Micro housing facilities will have to park cars on the streets or nearby neighborhoods where parking automobiles is already an issue!
Practical Micro housing
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Micro housing techniques should be employed at newly developing places of cities and urban towns. We shouldn’t try to fit them in the existing harmony of older established places. However, they can gradually be introduced in old towns when a major re-development move is initiated.
