Generation gap not as wide: survey

Millennials home ownership falls in line with Boomers’ plans

Tiny homes and schoolies – school buses transmogrified into housing – are always going to remain a fringe form of housing, says Royal LePage president Phil Soper. “The tiny house stories you see are interesting human-interest pieces more so than a significant lifestyle change.” Maybe. But there are signs some municipalities may be set to embrace this alternative form of housing. “A key factor in their future growth is the adaptation of current land-use regulations and bylaws,” said Re/Max Nova real estate broker Ryan Hartlen. “Many municipalities still categorize tiny homes as mobile structures, and thus they do not fit into current planning and development strategies. The Municipality of Yarmouth, however, is one example of an early adopter that provides for certain areas to permit tiny home builds.” Although tiny home builders have not yet hit their stride in Atlantic Canada, they are here. In New Brunswick, for example, Scott Amirault’s Harvest Homes Renovations has already built a couple of these smartly designed, fully equipped small cottages mounted on trailers. On Prince Edward Island, Mark Mahar and Sherri Spatuk’s M4G Alternative Housing completed its first such tiny house, a 440-square-foot dwelling, last year. These tiny houses are often portrayed as revolutionary, a new, millennial backlash against big, sprawling homes that eat up so much space and are bad for the environment. But Soper says these are just the latest way to brand small homes – now with the latest technology that allows people to live off the grid –and insists these tiny homes have a great deal in common with the mobile homes, which sit in parks across the country. “The main difference I see in the minimalist lifestyle between the generations (the Millennials and the Baby Boomers) is branding,” he said. In its surveys, Royal LePage has revealed that 87 per cent of Millennials still want to buy their own home and 61 per cent would relocate to buy it. “That’s exactly, within a percentage point, of what their Boomer parents said,” Soper pointed out. Tiny homes are typically purchased by both Millennials and Gen Xers who do not see value or the necessity of buying into traditional housing at today's prices and have more of a minimalist mindset, said Hartlen. “There are also a number of environmentally conscious buyers who feel these homes offer a less impactful footprint than traditionally sized homes,” he said. Although neither of these two realtors expected tiny homes to go mainstream anytime soon – and instead remain on the fringes of the housing market – both agreed there will be many more of these small houses sold because they appeal to trend-setting Millennial generation. “There are more Peak Millennials (aged between 25 and 35 years) than there were Boomers,” said Soper. “The children of the Boomers are entering into their 20s and 30s and there are a lot of them and they’ll impact our lives for years to come.”