Jonathan Palley shows how small homes can ease America’s housing crunch
Across the United States, housing costs keep rising while build times and land supply lag demand. Conventional construction alone cannot close the gap. Well-built, code-compliant small residential units – whether on foundations or wheels – are no longer fringe experiments; they are practical tools for adding quality, attainable housing quickly.
Why small works
Small homes are gaining traction not just because they’re smaller, but because they solve real problems across multiple dimensions of housing need. Today’s buyers face a stark choice: manufactured housing or tract homes. For many Americans in 2025, neither option meet their lifestyle or values.
Tiny Homes afford a third path: high-quality homes that trade-off square footage for quality and livability at a more affordable price point.
As digital technology shrinks our physical needs, buyers increasingly question how much ‘stuff’ they need in their day-to-day lives. The bookshelf has given way to the iPad; the media room to the streaming device.
But smaller footprints don’t mean compromised living. The tiny home has been at the forefront of innovating on how to make smaller square footages feel extremely livable and spacious. Our 221 square foot studio model has a kitchen larger than most homes four times its size. Walk into our 400-square-foot one-bedroom model, and most visitors guess it’s closer to 800 square feet.
This isn’t about downsizing, it’s about right-sizing. In a market where affordability often means sacrificing quality, tiny homes prove you can have both.
How they’re built matters
The value of small homes isn’t just in size and design, it’s also in how efficiently they’re built. Unlike traditional stick-built homes that rely on scattered subcontractors and on-site sequencing, many modern tiny homes are produced using factory-based methods that optimize for consistency, speed, and waste reduction. And then, they are easily shipped to the site.
Some builders are moving away from one-off construction toward a productized approach – treating homes not as individual projects, but as repeatable, engineered systems.
Instead of customizing every build on-site, the layout, structure and material selections are standardized upfront. That allows the construction process to focus on efficient material sourcing and repeatable processes. Materials are ordered in bulk and optimized for each product line, which reduces lead times, cuts waste and brings costs down.
Because homes are built in a controlled environment with dedicated crews following the same process across units, consistency is easier to maintain – and mistakes are easier to prevent.
“Repeatable systems and consistent build quality are what turn small homes from a niche idea into scalable housing infrastructure.”
The real barrier: Codes
Demand is strong; policy is patchy. Most movable tiny homes have used RV certifications that limit full-time use. Even builders that meet International Residential Code (IRC) safety levels face local unease about anything on wheels. The result: fewer than 50 jurisdictions nationwide give tiny homes a clear legal path today.
Progress on standards
The Tiny Home Industry Association (THIA) is working with the International Code Council (ICC) to close that gap. ICC 1215 will hopefully, soon, open new Tiny Home opportunities.
Case study: Permitting an MTH in Los Angeles 
Filmmaker and single mother Tchaiko needed a fast, affordable place to live after a major life change. She chose a Clever S model – 26 feet long by eight-and-a-half feet wide, about 221 sq ft -and sited it under Los Angeles Ordinance 186481, which treats Movable Tiny Houses (MTHs) as accessory dwelling units.
The ordinance requires ANSI 119.5 certification, utility hookups, hidden wheels and residential-grade windows, cladding and roof pitch. Because Tchaiko’s home met every rule, the city approved it through ministerial review – no hearings, no variance. Built in four weeks and craned onto a paved pad, the home now functions as a bright kitchen, Murphy-bed living nook, laundry corner and storage loft for her and her child. The project shows how clear standards plus quality design can deliver legal housing in a matter of weeks, not years.
Scaling up
California alone needs two-and-a-half million additional homes within eight years. Large, detached houses cannot fill that gap; land and infrastructure will not allow it. Compact construction – tiny homes, well-designed ADUs and resilient glamping cabins – adds gentle density quickly while preserving neighborhood character.
Building science, human scale
Modern small homes use air-tight envelopes, balanced ventilation and durable cladding to equal or exceed full-size performance. Though some ride on a chassis, good builders follow IRC principles almost completely, proving that mobility and longevity can coexist.
The road ahead
With national standards maturing and early-adopter cities proving the model, small homes are poised to move from niche to infrastructure. The task now is alignment: planners, builders and residents working together to let compact design do its job – provide high-quality, affordable housing for more people, sooner.
Jonathan Palley
Jonathan Palley is CEO of Clever Builds. Clever Builds designs and manufactures high-performance small homes – tiny houses, glamping cabins and ADUs – for full-time or short-term use. Each model is built to residential standards and guided by building science principles that maximize comfort, energy efficiency and long-term durability in compact footprints.