These homes cost less than $200,000. Boise plans to make room for more of them
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Boise approved tiny homes on wheels citywide where ADUs are already allowed.
- New code permits homes under 400 square feet with restrictions on rentals and lots.
- Pilot data shows lower costs for residents.
Araminta Ray built her house with her own hands, she told the Boise City Council.
It’s not the typical living situation: Her house is a tiny home. Ray, who came with her landlord to the council meeting, said she built the structure in Tennessee before moving to Idaho to work on her health care career.
On Tuesday, the council voted to legalize such homes in spaces throughout Boise in an attempt to improve housing affordability. Both Ray and her landlord spoke in favor of the change. The new rules are expected to go into effect after the council meeting on June 24.
“We can’t expect everybody to be able to have the white picket fence and the large single-family home,” Council President Colin Nash said. “We have to recognize that people have different circumstances in their lives.”
Tiny homes on wheels will now be allowed everywhere that accessory dwelling units, also known as ADUs or granny flats, are permitted. That includes all residential zones and some mixed-use areas, which typically include a mix of homes and businesses.
Tiny means tiny. These homes can’t be larger than 400 square feet, according to a draft version of the code change. The houses have to be built to certain standards, there can only be two tiny homes per lot, and people can’t park them on streets.
Homeowners also can’t use tiny homes on wheels as Airbnbs or other short-term rentals.
Tiny homes can be an affordable option for people who are trying to find alternatives in Boise’s supercharged housing market. But not everyone likes them.
In Meridian, a woman sued to keep living in her tiny home on the site of a home where the city said it wasn’t allowed. A court ruled against Chasidy Decker last year, although she is appealing. Decker paid $75,000 for her tiny home a couple of years ago, according to previous Statesman reporting.
Boise began a pilot program in 2023 to allow tiny homes on wheels in selected backyards throughout the city. Applications for the pilot program are closed, city spokesperson Maria Ortega said in an email. Initial findings showed the homes “wintered” well and residents had lower living expenses, Ortega said.
She said the cost of tiny homes in the pilot ranged from $80,000 to $180,000. Most participants owned their homes, she said. People who rented just the backyard space paid $500 to $650 monthly, she said. People who rented both the space and the tiny home paid closer to $1,000.
Homeowners who rent the spaces must create “permanent and safe utility connections,” such as water, sewer and electricity, Ortega said, which could run up to $15,000. The sites in the pilot program will need to apply for permission to continue to host the tiny homes.
For some, the council’s embrace of tiny homes is a cause for hope as interest rates and housing costs remain high.
“What you’re setting is a precedent,” said Macy Miller, a Boise native and tiny-home resident who drove down from Moscow to attend the council meeting, “that I think will be replicated throughout the nation.”
