Credello: Are Tiny Homes the Answer to Homelessness in California?

NEW YORK, April 18, 2023 (Newswire.com) - Credello: Homelessness has been an issue in California for a long time. If you visit San Diego or Los Angeles, you can easily find huge camps of unhoused individuals. Many people without homes travel to the West Coast to avoid punishing winter weather.

California is currently looking into the possibility of constructing many small homes that the state feels could combat the homeless crisis. Before you head out there and start looking at options for financing a tiny home, though, you should know more about the program. 

We'll talk about it in detail right now.  

The Basics

Let's start with the most basic details surrounding these tiny homes. California plans to spend $30 million on them. Governor Gavin Newsom is spearheading the initiative.

These homes will be erected in places like San Diego and Los Angeles, where there are high concentrations of unhoused individuals. Los Angeles already has some tiny homes set up as villages. 

The pilot project seems successful. It's run by the nonprofit Hope of the Valley. California hopes to house about 15% of the homeless population by 2025. That's just two years away, so it's an ambitious goal.

Who Gets a Home?

The areas where these latest tiny homes are going up include parts of San Diego, Los Angeles, Sacramento, and San Jose counties. The beds in the little homes will be intended primarily for individuals who currently live in encampments in those areas.

Los Angeles, the biggest city in California, will get the most homes. They can expect 500, while San Diego will get the least. They're only getting 150 for the moment.

Some Details of this Program Aren't Available Yet

So far, you probably agree that all of this sounds good. There are more than a few details about this program that are missing, though.

It's not clear yet precisely who will be building these homes. Their exact planned location has also not been revealed. It is believed, though, that the houses will indeed earn their "tiny" designation. They could be as small as 120 square feet.

Los Angeles Provides a Roadmap

While details about this latest small house initiative remain scanty, we might look at Los Angeles and its existing tiny homes for inspiration. The ones created and placed there that we mentioned earlier might resemble the new tiny homes Governor Newsom hopes to build. 

The cost of the tiny homes that were built in Los Angeles is about $43,000 each. If we multiply that amount by the $30 million dedicated to this latest initiative, we can extrapolate approximately how many new homes there should be. 

What is This Project's Likely Result?

While some details about this program are yet to be revealed, the tiny homes in Los Angeles prove this idea isn't a pipe dream. The existing tiny dwellings were erected in what the city deemed to be a forgotten corner of Los Angeles. There are certainly plenty of those in L.A. and in the other areas we mentioned as well.

What's more difficult to figure out is exactly how eligibility will be determined. There are bound to be many more homeless people than available tiny homes. 

Some kind of lottery will probably be implemented. Any unhoused person should be able to participate, though some are homeless because of mental illness. Those individuals are unlikely to seek one of these tiny homes because they don't have the lucidity to take part in the selection process. 

The short answer to whether tiny homes are the answer to homelessness in California is that they can certainly help. The success of the Los Angeles pilot program proves that.

In time, if the funding for more tiny homes becomes available, then California may be able to see a significant drop in its total number of unhoused individuals. It's an exciting prospect and one the state's homeless population will continue monitoring with interest.  

About Credello

Credello is a financial tech company offering a personal finance tool that simplifies financial decisions through personalized, on-demand recommendations — so users can borrow, save, or invest with confidence. Credello believes that finding the right financial product should be as easy and interactive as online shopping, and we are on a mission to make that possible. For more information, please visit https://www.credello.com. 

Source: Credello