Claudia lives in a simple, charming, and permitted tiny house dweller in Germany. She lives in the southern part of the country in a quaint village named Hopferbach. Importantly, the mayor and town council approved her home on wheels. Their only requirement was installing a sloped, red roof. So her home matches all the other houses in town.
Claudia found a tiny house parking spot on a small lot next to an old farmhouse. Impressively, the landowners will allow her to stay for up to 17 years. They reserved this lot for their young grandson, so he can build a home there when he grows up—a common practice in Germany.
In addition to the long-term lease opportunity, Claudia enjoys an affordable lot rent. She pays just €300 per month (about $325 USD), which includes water and sewer. While electricity is separate, the landowners paid to have all the utility hookups installed. The arrangement is mutually beneficial for all. In fact, it’s going so well that the landowners want to host a second tiny house on wheels.
Watch a tour of Claudia’s charming, permitted tiny house!
Claudia purchased her approximately 200-square-foot tiny house for $58,000 from German builder Berghaus. It has a comfortable living space with room for a spacious sofa and table. One really cool feature is her wall-mounted infrared heating panels in the main area and bathroom. They could be easily mistaken for art!
For Claudia, her new home is a return to tiny living. She lived in a van for three years in Australia. After moving back to Germany, she lived in a large home with her boyfriend, where she felt more disorganized. Later, she lived in a shared apartment with noisy roommates. Now, Claudia absolutely loves simple living in an affordable home of her own.
“I don’t have the commitment to pay a big house off like 20 years of my life. Like, I’m only working, working, working to pay a house off. And that was also something I never wanted to do. Like, it’s already hard for me to live longer than one year in one spot because I lived that nomadic life for such a long time. But then being bound to a house for 20, 30 years and just working for that was just not an option for me. So this is something. A tiny house you can easily pay off in five years.”
-Claudia, permitted tiny house owner in southern Germany
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