We were tired of expensive city life so built a tiny home for £17k – space is a struggle but we’ve saved loads on rent
ARE you tired of paying expensive rent or a pricey mortgage? You are not alone.
One couple who wanted to cut their costs revealed how they ditched their expensive London life to live in a tiny home.
Artist Lizzie and Patrick didn’t have any experience of building a home when they took on their ambitious project, with the most challenging thing they had attempted to make being a bottle opener.
However, thanks to YouTube tutorials and a lot of hard work, they managed to construct their dream small pad in a short amount of time.
And the best part is that they did the whole thing for £17,000 - which was less than a year of their previous rent and well below the average sold house price of £733,757.
Speaking to Liveration, Lizzie said: “We always thought there must be a better way than paying rent.
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“It was mostly so I could do print-making full-time, so we could have the financial freedom of that.”
Sustainability consultant Patrick added: “Because of Covid I was working partly remotely so realised we could move out [of London].”
They stumbled upon a number of tiny homes on Instagram and YouTube and it inspired them to create their cosy pad, which they have called the Timbernest.
The savvy couple moved into Lizzie’s parents’ house while they worked on the project.
Lizzie said: “We had a winter lockdown to watch loads of tutorials.”
Patrick added: “It felt like probably a bigger challenge than we expected to start with but something to work towards.”
The couple took a month off work and dedicated all their time to creating the Timbernest, which they built out from a trailer they bought from the Netherlands.
Inside they have a snug kitchen with a fridge, electric oven, storage areas and wooden worktops.
There is also a dining area with a foldable table for having guests over.
They also have a snug lounge area with a sofa, bookcase and TV.
The smallest part of the house is their bathroom, which includes a small shower and compost loo, but they insisted it “works for them.”
Meanwhile, their bedroom is accessed by a ladder on a platform above the lounge, and it had drawers for their clothes.
Lizzie explained: “It’s on a flat-bed trailer and its dimensions mean it’s legally a caravan which means we can have it here, which is my parent’s garden.
”To live in it full-time you need to apply for permission.”
Patrick said: “They way we’ve done it - so living in it as members of another household - is the easiest to do legitimately.”
They hope to live in the tiny home for a few years until they can save up for a “conventional home.”
Lizzie continued: “In terms of the budget for this house, we thought it would be satisfying to keep it under a year of rent that we;d be paying in London."
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Patrick added: “It was £17,000, we did all the work ourselves so it was all the materials.
“If you are able to do something like this, you can afford to work a lot less.”
