As someone who’s been renting for the majority of my adult life, I can safely say that it’s an intriguingly nasty thing. It’s like playing bingo, but someone keeps turning off the lights every so often, the person calling out the numbers is drunk and slurring all over the place, whilst some random child runs up and steals your marker. However, winning is worth the trouble.

You’re secure for a little while, you can make a place your own (within reason), a home. Even if it’s a temporary one, it’s better than nothing. But you’re never there forever, unless you win the lottery and buy out your landlord. You’re a nomad in a very modern sense, continuously roaming for your own little place under the sun.

One such place could be a van, a stunning cabin, a house boat, or even a treehouse! Traditional housing may soon be a thing of the past, as alternative housing solutions are becoming more popular. Nadia, who runs the online magazine “Tiny Living Scandinavia,” has shared her insight into this new way of living and how one can get started. 

Nadia believes that there are two main reasons why people opt to join the tiny house movement. She told Bored Panda that buying a tiny home is far cheaper than buying a traditional home, especially now that “getting on the housing market seems impossible. That is, unless they seek out creative alternatives like buying a tiny home on wheels.” 

“The savings from electricity and superfluous purchases alone are often enough to convince people that tiny living doesn’t seem like a bad option!” she continued, noting that her own electric bill had gone down by ⅔ since they moved into a tiny house. 

Furthermore, a tiny home gives one the opportunity to live a more adventurous life, as with a smaller indoor space, one is called to spend a bit more time in the great outdoors. “We’re lucky to be able to opt for a rolling home we can travel the world in if we so choose!” said Nadia, adding that the limited living space doesn’t feel so tiny once you consider that you’re “shrinking your financial responsibilities to make more room for the fun stuff!” 

For all those curious about tiny living and actually considering this option for housing, Nadia has some advice and words of encouragement: “It’s so much more doable than you realize.” With banks offering tiny house mortgages and a plethora of online resources, building a tiny home is easier than ever before. 

“The best starting point in your tiny house journey is first visiting a tiny house in person,” Nadia said. “Book a tiny house vacation rental for a few days and just hang out in the house. By the end of your long weekend, you should know whether you’re still in love with tiny living or your fling has been flung.” She also advises doing this with a partner just to see whether close quarter living is gonna work out. 

“Let’s say you’ve done that, and you’re still in love with tiny homes, maybe more than ever before—now it’s time to decide whether to build or buy,” she continued. “For the brave souls who plan on embarking on a home-build, you might want to look at a tiny-house-building crash course. You can find these in most countries.”

“If you’re instead planning on buying a complete home, it’s time for you to start searching for tiny house builders near you and booking appointments to go and meet them in person.” Finally, she states that regardless of whether you’re building or buying, you must do your research: “Read everything you can, watch everything you can, and go into it with as much knowledge as possible.” 

But let’s look into the reason we’re even speaking of tiny home ownership in the first place. As the prices continue to rise, both for rent and minimum mortgage requirements, the dream of ever owning a home becomes as distant as the Moon; can see it, can’t touch it. As Derek Thompson puts it: “I’m not a believer in curses. But if anything is cursed in this world, it’s the 21st-century American housing market.” I’d probably extend that to the rest of the western world; we’re all struggling here.

In 15 years, we’ve had a historic housing crash, a historic housing crunch, a historic pandemic-fueled buying spree, and a historic mortgage-rate spiral. According to Forbes Advisor, housing experts are keeping a watchful eye on the economy, which is still being pulled in all directions by stubbornly high inflation, steep interest rates, and ongoing geopolitical uncertainties, to name a few. But as mortgage rates have begun to decline in recent weeks, many economists are mixed about whether home prices will continue their slow decline through 2023–or crash.

It seems the biggest disconnect is between the buyers and sellers. Rita Tayenaka, owner of Orange County, California-based Coast to Canyon brokerage, states that “buyers want to lowball, and sellers want last year’s price.” Although the latter has seen a shift, making it more plausible for buyers to afford the home, one should not forget it’s still a seller’s market; goods are scarce and sellers can keep prices high.

According to Derek Thompson, the number of available homes is still about 40% lower than it was before the pandemic. If you want to find a new place to rent, good luck twice over. The average rent has soared to an all-time high, as demand surges in the absence of available units. Mark Zandi, the chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, says: “This may be the worst time in my living history for the home buyer—it just doesn’t make sense.”

To say it simply—the system is broken. As Tristan Cross states, there are, broadly, two types of people in this world: Those who think landlords are price-gouging parasites, and the landlords perpetually surprised that everyone despises them. He believes that there are no good landlords, only varying degrees of bad ones.

The entire system is weighted in favor of those with the means to become landlords. The more they artificially restrict the supply of an essential component of living, the more money they make. Research shows the average buy-to-let landlord earns more than twice the average national salary. Even if their rental yield amounts to less than expected, they still have an asset—which will likely continue to appreciate in value—making it as close to a no-risk investment as you can get.

More than 2 million families were locked out of home ownership as a result of landlords buying up properties to rent out, a report by a Conservative MP, Neil O’Brien, found in 2018. Furthermore, the Resolution Foundation predicts that half of all people born between 1981 and 2000 will be renting well into middle-age, and a third as retirees. So how do we get out of this purgatory?

A protest movement is one idea. Another is to find alternative housing solutions. RV and motorhomes, house boats, tiny houses, shipping container homes, and tree Houses are just a few potential solutions that require a bit more creativity, but that also allow for more freedom. You can also buy a tent and set it up in your workplace—I’m sure everyone would support that action!

As you continue scrolling through this list, dear reader, I hope you have a little laugh at the very grim reality many of us face. Leave your opinions, experiences with entitled landlords, and potential solutions as to how we can all escape this mess in the comments below. Make sure to follow Nadia on Instagram and check out the "Tiny Living Scandinavia" website as well. Have a great one and happy New Year!