LONGMONT — The popular tiny home movement is growing bigger in Colorado thanks to a new law aimed at allowing factory-built homes of about 400 square feet or less to become permanent fixtures in neighborhoods and in one case, to be used as an emerging therapy to get homeless military veterans back on their feet.

Advocates say House Bill 1242 , which went into effect July 1, will spur more purchases since it sets building standards for the scaled-down structures. The new rules also allow cities and counties to create legal pathways to let people live in tiny homes for a lifetime as opposed to just 180 days, advocates say. 

“Before this law, we saw a lot of tiny homes the owners weren’t allowed to live in permanently,” said Art Laubach of Einstyne Tiny Homes in Brighton. Sometimes, depending on local laws, a tiny home would be wheeled into a mobile home or RV park and be considered a residence. 

Generally tiny homes were not legally a permanent, living structure in Colorado, Laubach said.

“But now, the new law outlines building codes for counties to use on tiny homes and gives those governments a way to allow people to live in them permanently,” Laubach said. “It’s just another option for people who otherwise can’t afford a standard home.”

Read more from Monte Whaley at ColoradoSun.com.

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