Tiny Homes have for quite some time been a suggestion for sheltering unhoused communities, but recent insight from Dwell suggests it could also provide an innovative solution for housing the elderly. As of most recent data in 2023, one-quarter of unsheltered people across the U.S. were over the age of 55. And in some cities, it’s anticipated that the number of unhoused seniors will nearly triple by 2030.
Tim Swanson, an architect and founder of modular housing manufacturer Inherent Homes, has been working to tackle this issue and says providing affordable, quality housing is an important aspect of elder care.
"A lot of the work we did with our conventional housing was making certain that it is accessible and multigenerational, because we saw that it is a symbiotic relationship between somebody on a fixed income—like Social Security—paired with a young family, trying to make the whole nut work," he says.