Tiny houses: why more people are living in miniature

Tiny houses have been heralded as a radical and creative way to address a
lack of affordable housing, as well as reducing living costs and shrinking our
carbon footprint.

My PhD research looks at the tiny house movement in the UK. I am interested
in who lives in them and why, and in the barriers that people face to living in
this way. I am also building my own tiny house at the same time. I am excited
by the idea that people could build their own houses and halve their living
costs at the end. Yet my research is also highlighting that for many people,
living in a tiny home is an act of necessity. It’s not that they want to live in a 5
metre by 5 metre timber box, it’s that they can’t afford to do anything else. And
for others, even this is out of reach.

Tiny houses are homes usually 40 square metres or less. A popular

construction style is to build them on a trailer base. This allows them to be
classified as road-towable vehicles and avoids many of the complications of
building a permanent home with foundations. Others are log-cabin style
or shed homes, and some are even built underground. They are much
cheaper than traditional housing – the average tiny house price tends to be
around £35,000 – and result in much cheaper living costs. This can free up
time from the obligation to work to pay rent or a mortgage.

Research has suggested that people who live in tiny houses spend more time
outside or with friends and family, which can make them happier than their
overworked counterparts. However, building a tiny house still requires
thousands of pounds and, importantly, somewhere to build. This means these
projects seem mostly to be done by people who do have some savings,
access to personal loans, and friends or family who own land. It’s just that
they don’t have enough savings to buy a “real” house.

This also means that although tiny houses are considerably more affordable
than conventional houses, they are out of the reach of the people who are in
most dire need of housing. If somebody is unable to save up the average
deposit for a brick house, they are not likely to be able to summon this amount
for a tiny house either. What’s more, you can’t borrow money through
conventional mortgages to build tiny houses because they are not attached to
land, which is the real asset that appreciates in value over time.

Instead, tiny houses must be financed via private loans, just like if you wanted
to buy a car. A typical interest rate on a mortgage loan in the UK right now
is roughly 2%. Compare this to the interest you would have to pay on a
personal loan to build your tiny house, an average of 7%, and it becomes
clear how unfavourable the financial landscape is for this type of project.

Of course, tiny homes can be built for significantly less than the average price.
A participant in my research study built a 10 square metre tiny house for just
£900. He loves this home and spends a lot of time in it. However, it is built on
land that he already owns, another hurdle to overcome which is eased by
material capital.

The UK has the longest average working hours in Europe, and a significant
proportion of earnings go towards housing costs. My participants have
described tiny houses as a way to reduce living costs in such a way that they
can either work much less, or work in more fulfilling jobs for a lower salary.
People have expressed to me how they found it strange that they used to
work 40 hours per week to pay for a home that were seldom in. People I have
spoken to who build tiny homes also cite a desire for simplicity and a move
away from a life focused on spending and buying. Some have described the
work-to-spend attitude of society as unfulfilling and harmful.

It seems counter-intuitive that people would prefer less space to more and
that people would volunteer to live in a shed on wheels if there were enough
affordable homes. Yet I have encountered people who do have the money to
live in a conventionally sized house but would prefer to live tiny and find their
goals obstructed by planning permission and access to land.

Another way to look at the tiny house movement is that it sums up the failures
of adequate distribution of resources and access to opportunity. It can be
seen to be romanticising poverty and ignoring structural inequality. The
movement is known to be fairly white and middle-class, which suggests its
radical potential is being overstated.
Questions

Complete the summary below.

Write NO MORE THAN ONE WORD for each answer.

Tiny houses: why more people are living in miniature

For many people, living in a conventional house is prohibited by the high 1…..
……. . A potential alternative is a tiny house. These are less expensive to
build and run which means that owners can often cut down on their 2 ……..….
hours. However, you can’t finance a tiny house with a standard 3 ……..…. , so
builders need to have access to personal funds. Another problem is finding
suitable, affordable 4 ……..…. . Some people build tiny houses through a
desire to 5 …..……… their lives and turn their backs on consumerism.
 Have you got what it takes to become an astronaut in the
new era of human spaceflight?
Millions of people watched breathlessly as astronauts for the first
time successfully travelled to the International Space Station (ISS) in a
privately funded spacecraft, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon
capsule, on May 30. The historic launch, which marks a new chapter in
human spaceflight, is likely to lead to renewed interest in spaceflight. So, what
exactly does it take to become an astronaut? And can we expect the
requirements to change as more private companies get involved and we go
on longer journeys?

During the space race of the 1960s, NASA selected an elite group of air force
and test pilots to orbit the Earth and to ultimately land on the moon. These
pioneers were well accustomed to taking risks and pushing their hardware to
the limit. They were later described as having “The Right Stuff” when it came
to the physical and psychological characteristics required to be a space farer,
a term that is now synonymous with astronaut selection.

Nowadays, thanks to advances in technology and a greater understanding of

the requirements of spaceflight, scientists, doctors, engineers and even
journalists have all joined the most exclusive club on (and off) Earth. Of the
estimated 100 billion people who have ever lived, fewer than 600 individuals
have travelled into space. It is, therefore, a unique profession and one that not
all of us are suited to.

Currently, NASA stipulates that applicants must meet certain criteria. First,
you must be a US citizen, though some have changed their nationality to fulfil
this requirement, including UK-born Michael Foale and Piers Sellars. You
must also possess a master’s degree in science, technology, engineering or
maths, or a Doctor of Medicine degree. In addition to that, you should have at
least two years of related professional experience. Alternatively, 1,000 hours
of pilot-in-command time on a jet aircraft will do, which is particularly important
for the pilot and commander roles. And finally, you have to pass NASA’s long-
duration flight astronaut physical test. Similar criteria are set by other nations,
including the European Space Agency (ESA). Essentially, candidates must
demonstrate aptitude in a range of attributes. These can generally be broken
down into four distinct areas and may change going forward.

The pilot and commander roles for a space mission will always favour those
from a military/test pilot background. But modern spaceflight crews have to
undertake a far wider range of duties pertaining to science and engineering
than their pioneering predecessors. While on the ISS, crews have to ensure
the integrity of experiments and keep the station operating efficiently and
safely. Therefore, having a detailed knowledge of scientific processes and
engineering principles is essential and will continue to be so.

Emotional stability is a crucial trait for any astronaut to have, but the
psychological requirements are much more comprehensive than simply
controlling one’s emotions. An ability to demonstrate good reasoning, high
levels of concentration and memory, spatial orientation (especially crucial
when there is no up or down in space) and manual dexterity are also
important factors. With longer-term flights to the ISS and eventually Mars
planned, it will be increasingly important for astronauts to be able to work
well as a member of a team, be flexible in their approach to resolving
problems and have empathy for their fellow crew.

Whether it be due to the high g-forces during launch or the microgravity

environment in Earth orbit, the human body is pushed to its limit throughout a
spaceflight mission. Therefore, it is fundamental to mission success that
astronauts are medically and physically capable of surviving such diverse and
challenging conditions. In addition to successfully enduring a barrage of
physical fitness tests, astronauts must also have 20/20 eyesight (correction
allowed) and a seated blood pressure of 140/90 or below. While there is
technically no age restriction, the average astronaut candidate is around 34
years old. So long as you are fit enough there appears no limit to this. John
Glenn flew on the space shuttle aged 77.

To be able to go to space, astronauts also have to complete an assortment of

activities designed to prepare them for the various aspects of their mission.
Exposure to high-speed manoeuvres in jet planes and increased g-force in
specially constructed centrifuges prepare the astronauts for some of the
physical challenges they will experience during launch and landing
procedures. They also practice in-flight procedures like eating, drinking and
using the lavatory during short periods of simulated “zero-g” flights using
converted passenger jets. Longer periods of weightlessness can be created in
vast swimming pools such as NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory. There,
astronauts, kitted out in full spacesuits, can train alongside full-size mock-ups
of ISS modules. This allows crews to carry out run-throughs of upcoming
missions.

The official space agency route to becoming an astronaut is no longer the only
way to get a ticket into space though. Since the early 2000s, the ISS has
hosted private paying guests. The success of NASA’s Commercial Crew
Program will continue to facilitate safe, reliable and cost-effective access to
and from the ISS. This will likely include an increase in visiting private
astronauts. As these guests will not be as “hands-on” as their fellow
astronauts, they will not have to fulfil as stringent criteria. This will likely allow
more people access to space. However, this private option will not come
cheap. NASA estimates that, in addition to launch costs, these space tourists
can expect to pay around US$35,000 per night.

Becoming an astronaut is probably, and not surprisingly, one of the most

difficult career paths to pursue. That said, those who have achieved their
astronaut “wings” describe it as a hugely rewarding profession. So, if you have
the required passion and related characteristics then perhaps you too have
The Right Stuff.

Do the following statements agree with the information given in the

reading passage? Write:

TRUE if the statement agrees with the information

FALSE if the statement contradicts the information

NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

1. Astronauts on the early NASA space missions were known as space

adventurers.

2. NASA has sent people from many different nationalities into space.

3. Potential astronauts have to undergo psychological tests.

4. Some trainee astronauts are rejected because they cannot cope with high
g-forces.

5. Astronauts undertake some of their physical training underwater.

6. Ordinary people will be able to travel into space for a total fee of about
thirty-five thousand dollars.