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280 Sq. Ft. Y:Cube Prefab Tiny Houses in London


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The Y:Cube is a Lego-style prefabricated tiny housing solution designed to alleviate the affordable housing shortage in London after a report by the English Housing Survey revealed that most renters throughout England are spending 47 percent of their entire after-tax income on rent.

And according to this article from Russia Times, people in London are spending even more with an average of 73 percent of their pre-tax income being spent on rent. In response to this housing crisis, the London South West YMCA has come up with a solution called the Y:Cube.

The units are 26m2 (or 280 square feet) and are designed by Rogers Stirk Habour + Partners, an award-winning architecture firm in London. When you go inside one of the units you’ll find everything you need! A bathroom, kitchen, living area, desk, and a cozy place to sleep. But best of all, the price is affordable. According to the Russia Times, the units cost about €30,000 British Pounds which converts to about $47,000 in United States Dollars.

280 Sq. Ft. Y:Cube Prefab Tiny Houses in London

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Images © RT

Video: London’s Affordable Tiny Housing Solution

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Images © RT

Original story: http://www.rt.com/uk/310107-generation-rent-charities-blast-govt/

Our big thanks to George for sharing!

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Alex

Alex is a contributor and editor for TinyHouseTalk.com and the always free Tiny House Newsletter. He has a passion for exploring and sharing tiny homes (from yurts and RVs to tiny cabins and cottages) and inspiring simple living stories. We invite you to send in your story and tiny home photos too so we can re-share and inspire others towards a simple life too. Thank you!
{ 9 comments… add one }
  • Rue
    July 20, 2015, 5:35 pm

    Not quite sure how to put this, but something just seems off to me, here. Sure, a tiny home is better than being out on the street, and it’s good to see tiny living getting so mainstream as to be considered as a potential solution….

    …but it strikes me that the REAL problem is, how did normal housing get so expensive as to be out of the reach of so many to being with?!

    That said, the units themselves seem trim and functional. Everything you need in a self-contained package (if not off the grid). Some land, a rain catchment system, a few solar panels, and one of those CropBoxes, and you’d have yourself a modern tiny homestead.

    • Lisa E.
      July 21, 2015, 10:43 am

      This is a failure of government when renters are spending half their income on a space to live. This is why the F(r)EE Market is a bad deal and people need to stop voting into office people who support the rich getting richer while average people suffer with less and less. “Austerity” is intentional poverty by government and design; it’s called “fascism”.

      While I completely support the Tiny House Movement if a person or family want to live smaller, but I don’t support the THM as a bang board for corrupt governmental officials and terrible public policy.

      • Ken
        July 22, 2015, 9:41 am

        How do you omplain about a “Free Market” when you have so many “government” incentives, rent control and other bureaucratic and crony games going on? Don’t blame the Free Market where the is none!
        Government offices are fighting *against* tiny houses, AirBNB, Uber, Lyft and other more free-market solutions every day. It seems redtape is keeping more people from building tiny homes than anything else. You can’t get a permit – how can you follow your dream? I’ve watched this movement for several years I have only seen that one small town in Texas has openly embraced little homes like this!

      • Lon
        July 22, 2015, 9:03 pm

        couldn’t have said it better!

  • Chel
    July 21, 2015, 9:16 am

    Rue, London rents have been extortionate relative to wages for decades. People have learnt to live in a shoebox there like they do in other crowded cities like New York.
    The general housing shortage in Britain as a whole comes from the sell off of social housing since the 1980’s. It was supposed to be that when tenants bought their local town council owned homes under the new right to buy scheme, the councils would use the money to build new housing for the growing population. As with many other places around the world this didn’t happen. Some houses were built, but only on low figures overall such as 10% stock replacement.
    There are a lot of private landlords who charge 2 and 3 times as much rent for the same number of rooms, which makes housing so expensive for those on average and low incomes. The economic crisis with many foreclosures has meant that many are registered as technically homeless, though they live in shared emergency housing paid for by town councils and owned privately.
    Some people are not entitled to this support and have to fend for themselves, causing the number of truly homeless on the streets to rise dramatically.
    A long explanation that I have tried to give neutrally. Obviously, this issue is causing a lot of public debate and some protest here. Only small initiatives, like the one in this posting, are happening to address the crisis. A planned, widespread solution is needed to resolve this, but that would be getting seriously political.

  • Chel
    July 21, 2015, 9:28 am

    For those outside Britain, £140 for a 1/2 person studio flat like this would be a dream in London. My sister paid £120/week for a room in a shared 3 bedroom flat in the early 1990’s. This same cube I would expect to cost £90-100/week around the country. My 3 bedroom council house is just under £80/week, a smaller council flat I would guess to be £60-65/week.
    Plus utilities of course, and no furniture.

  • helen hunter
    July 22, 2015, 4:10 pm

    This has happened because of stagnation of salaries, and also job loss.You cannot buy a home if you do not have job security and longevity of some form, and as cost increases and salaries stay fixed…….not too hard to calculate!

  • Karen R
    July 23, 2015, 12:41 am

    Although housing is higher in larger cities, I agree with you, Lisa. Housing of some sort should be available for anyone who works!

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