Man builds house for just $19k – but there’s a catch

The 36-year-old man built a home for a tiny sum – but the house is just 16 square metres in size. 

Anders Boisen spent years living a conventional life in the city of Aarhus, Denmark. 

But in 2018, he decided it was time for a change. 

“I had this claustrophobic feeling about living in an apartment, not so much because of the size of it but more because of the lifestyle that seems so predefined,” he tells CNBC. 

It was a time when the tiny house movement was becoming increasingly visible on social media platforms like YouTube and Instagram. 

When Boisen stumbled upon a YouTube channel focusing on off-grid tiny house living, he found it “inspirational”. 

“It opened my eyes to a new possibility where I could actually live more economically free, and I could also live relatively sustainably.” 

In 2018, he started building his first mobile home, but it was sadly stolen just months later. 

Despite widespread media coverage, the house was never found. Nevertheless, Boisen started up the project again, even quitting his job in order to focus on the build full-time. 

By 2020, he had finished the tiny house on wheels. At just 6.5 metres by 2.5 metres, it’s about one-third the size of the average Australian one-bedroom apartment.

For Boisen, however, the home’s small size is not an obstacle but an opportunity. 

“The point of this house is to teach me how to consume less resources and that was part of the idea from the beginning. 

“I wanted to see how low you can go in terms of still living comfortably in a tiny house. My journey is to not only make the tiny home liveable but also adjust my need for resources and my behaviour. The house nudges my behaviour in a way,” he says. 

He has parked the tiny house on a small plot of land that he bought in 2021 for 160,000 Danish krone ($AU34,800). 

He estimates that the build itself cost around 80,000 to 90,000 Danish krone ($AU17,400 – $19,600). 

In most Australian council areas, you are only allowed to live in a tiny house on wheels if the block of land comes with an existing dwelling house. 

For legal purposes, tiny houses on wheels are typically defined as caravans.

Legislation differs between council areas, so it’s important to check with the local council before parking a tiny house on a block of land. 

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