When Less Is More – Tiny Housing As “Adequate” Housing
Date
2023
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
Abstract
The modern housing landscape is in flux with three key phenomena impacting the “adequacy”– the legal standard by which housing provision is measured – of housing policy, in South Africa, and worldwide. First, the “classic” housing crisis persists: high levels of homelessness, housing backlogs, and challenges related to government housing subsidies and service delivery continue. Second, there is international recognition of the impact of climate change on housing, the consequent need for climate-resilient housing, and reduced climate footprints of housing construction, maintenance and ownership. Third, physical housing size is increasing, despite the number of household members and available space for housing decreasing. This thesis considers these phenomena and contemplates the role of housing size within the evolving legal standard of “adequacy”, especially where size was often linked to the promotion of the right to health in light of communicable disease outbreaks. The thesis explores how tiny housing movements and different global norms on housing size can challenge conventional standards of housing adequacy. It considers that smaller dwellings are more affordable, less resource-intensive and, within the correct policy context, can lead to easier access to housing. The study lens of tiny housing is chosen due to its popularity throughout different income groups, based on growing concerns about consumerism, sustainability and communitarianism (albeit through a westernised lens). Accordingly, it allows for a discussion on the role of housing down-sizing without necessarily invoking a sense of “racing to the bottom”.
To achieve the research aim, the following research questions are posed and answered in turn: What is “adequate” as a standard to measure housing? Does size matter for the standard of adequacy, and if so, how? Can tiny houses, as a representation of very small housing types, be deemed adequate? If tiny housing can meet the adequacy standard, how should the law facilitate the self-realisation of tiny housing, or, alternatively, as a viable form of public housing?
The thesis comprises six chapters. The first chapter introduces the above-mentioned phenomena and study lens. The second chapter examines the legal and social barriers and facilitators for tiny housing in both private and public contexts through a comparative study of selected jurisdictions, chosen to represent different social, cultural and geographic contexts in which housing size requirements developed. The jurisdictions were also selected based on data accessibility and availability. The third chapter is a content analysis of theoretical aspects of adequacy in international and South African housing and human rights law. The fourth chapter is a critical analysis of building regulations and planning laws in South Africa, tracing their history and assessing their current form, with a focus on how they structure the self-realisation of access to tiny housing as adequate housing. The fifth chapter considers government public housing programs, policy approaches to housing size and its trade-offs with other adequacy factors in enabling access to tiny housing for people without the means to self-realise the right to adequate housing. Chapter six presents the answers to the research questions as explored through the various chapters and presents the overall findings of the study
Description
A research report submitted in fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy In the School of Law of the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa 2023
Keywords
Right to adequate housing, Climate, Sustainability, Housing policy, Building regulations, Socio-economic rights, UCTD
Citation
Kruger, Petronell. (2023). When Less Is More – Tiny Housing As “Adequate” Housing [PhD thesis, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg].WireDSpace.