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Installing a tiny house in France or Belgium: what does the law say?
As you probably already know, choosing to live in a Tiny House is now legal in France, and is governed by the ALUR law (Law for Access to Housing and Renovated Urbanism), adopted on February 20, 2014.
Prior to this law, there was a legal vacuum surrounding alternative housing, depriving many people wishing to invest in a mini-home for budgetary reasons or out of ecological convictions.
From now on, living in a place other than a house or apartment is allowed in France.
But while the ALUR law is an invaluable help in enabling everyone to live in the habitat of their choice, it also allows town halls to accept or reject your alternative accommodation according to certain criteria.
In this article, we explain your rights and obligations when setting up a Tiny House in France, and how to avoid a refusal from your local council. We also explain the different legislation for alternative housing in Belgium.
What is a light habitat?
Model made by Tinykub
There’s a very precise government definition of a lightweight habitat: “What all lightweight habitats have in common is that they are demountable, mobile and synonymous with a lifestyle based on sobriety and autonomy.”
We could therefore lump all alternative habitats together, such as yurts, tiny houses, teepees, caravans, mobile homes, tree houses etc… But in reality, it’ s the use you’re going to make of it that will determine the compulsory steps you need to take to install it on your land.
Installing a light habitat: what does the law say?
Hold on to your hats! We’re going to bring out the legal texts here. Yes, it’s pretty heavy and indigestible to read, but it’s all about being precise (and untouchable for the Town Hall ^^ )!
To begin with, here’s what article R-111-46-1 of the Code l’Urbanisme states:
“Installations without foundations that have interior or exterior equipment and can be independent of public networks are considered to be removable residences constituting the permanent habitat of their users. They are intended for habitation and occupied as a principal residence at least eight months per year. These residences and their exterior equipment are easily and quickly removable at any time.”
Clearly, if you want your Tiny House to be protected as a dismountable residence, then you need to leave it on its trailer for easy transport, occupy it for at least 8 months/year, and install equipment to be self-sufficient in electricity and water. Article R-421-19 of the Code de l’Urbanisme specifies that a development permit will be required for “The development of built or unbuilt land to enable the installation of at least two demountable residences creating a total floor area of over forty square meters, as defined in article R. 111-51 and constituting the permanent habitat of their users.”
So for a total floor area of less than 40 m2, a prior declaration is sufficient!(article R421-23 of the French Urban Planning Code). This is also the case if you install your Tiny House on the plot for less than 3 months, as explained in our article How to install a Tiny House on a plot of land.
If you don’t want to be connected to the public network and be 100% self-sufficient in water and electricity,article R441-6-1 of the Code de l’Urbanisme states that “When the request concerns the development of a plot of land with a view to the installation of demountable residences as defined in article R. 111-51, constituting the permanent habitat of their users and having equipment not connected to the public networks.
In accordance with article L. 111-11, the applicant must attach to his or her application a certificate attesting to compliance with health and safety regulations, in particular fire safety regulations, as well as the conditions under which the occupants’ water, sanitation and electricity needs are met. These conditions are laid down, where applicable, by the local urban development plan, particularly in the sectors delimited in application of article L. 151-13.”
These demountable residences are different from light leisure homes.
Under article R111-37 of the French Town Planning Code, these are considered to be demountable or transportable structures intended for temporary or seasonal occupation for leisure purposes.
They can be installed :
- In residential leisure parks specially designed for this purpose;
- In vacation villages classified as light accommodation under the Tourism Code;
- In the outbuildings of family vacation homes approved under the Tourism Code;
- In regularly-created campsites, with the exception of those created by prior declaration or created without planning permission, by declaration to the town hall, on the basis of the provisions of the town planning code as they stood prior to October 1, 2007, or constituting natural camping areas. In such cases, the number of light leisure dwellings must remain below either thirty-five when the site comprises less than 175 pitches, or 20% of the total number of pitches in other cases.
Outside these sites, light leisure dwellings are subject to ordinary building law.
Where to set up your Tiny House
Owning a plot of land doesn’t mean you have the right to settle there freely. The freedom to own land is one thing, the freedom to enjoy it to the full is quite another.
And yes, as citizens, we have rights AND duties.
But we’re not interested in the history and philosophy of Tiny Houses. What we’re interested in right now is much more pragmatic: where can I set up my Tiny House in France?
On privately-owned land with planning permission, as described above.
But now, under the ALUR law, communes can also define special zones for light housing in their PLU. In urban zones and in “pastilles“: agricultural or natural zones that are normally non-constructible.
It is therefore possible to set up a Tiny House within the framework of a STECAL (Secteur de Taille Et de Capacité Limitée), which is a small dot on the zoning map included in the PLU, specifying that light housing is accepted. In this case, it’s a derogation from the non-constructibility stipulated by the ALUR law.
But be careful! Some areas are still off-limits:
- STICK” agricultural zones and natural areas protected in the PLU.
- areas where isolated camping and the creation of campsites are prohibited.
- woods, forests and parks classified by a PLU or POS, such as wooded areas to be preserved.
- classified forests, in accordance with Title 1 of Book IV of the Forestry Code
To help you find your way around, the hameaux-legers.org website lists a number of communes and plots of land available for light housing. We also recommend that you contact your local town hall beforehand to check the PLU.
Despite the provisions of the ALUR law and the obligations of homeowners and local authorities, it’s not unusual to read of a mayor refusing to allow the permanent installation of a Tiny House in his commune, using “landscape integration” as a pretext.
As this specialist lawyer explains:
“Landscape integration responds to subjective criteria but also legal criteria. Any construction project must fit into an existing environment , and look at the surroundings in which it is to be integrated.
18h39.fr
Obviously, if I’m in a place that doesn’t have any natural or architectural particularities, the mayor won’t be able to object.
But if I’m in a city center with very linear architecture, as in Brittany, I can’t do just anything. It’s the same if I’m in a natural environment with a very strong landscape quality.
At that point, we can have a debate on landscape integration.”
But the need to change course is there! The housing crisis, the need to apply more sustainable, low environmental impact and more accessible construction methods is becoming an obligation. All these factors mean that, with the passage of time and future jurisprudence, light housing can only grow!
What about Tiny Houses in Belgium?
In Belgium, legislation varies from region to region. In Wallonia, the Tiny House has been recognized as a light habitat in the same way as wooden cabins, yurts and caravans, since September 2019.
The Tiny House must have at least 3 of these features:
- be movable
- be removable
- be underweight
- reduced volume
- not on foundations
- not be connected to electricity, gas or water supplies
- be self-built
- have a limited footprint
- no floor
Even so, the Walloon Code of Sustainable Housing requires a building permit to build a Tiny House, but the procedure has been made more flexible, as you don’t need to call in an architect. This Walloon Code only applies to places that serve as residences for users and not as tourist accommodations. Last but not least, you’re allowed to set up your home there if you comply with the town-planning rules, otherwise you’ll be granted a provisional domicile.
In Brussels and Flanders, there is no legal framework for mini-homes.
You’ll still need to obtain planning permission and comply with the Règlement Régional d’Urbanisme (Regional Planning Regulations), particularly as regards the Tiny House’s surface area and ceiling height.
In Brussels, the Code Bruxellois du Logement (Brussels Housing Code) mentions “itinerant” housing (in reference to the home for Travellers) without providing any clear details on the subject.
In any case, it’s certain that in the capital, a building permit is mandatory above 5 m².
In Flanders, however, a permit is required if the construction exceeds 6 m2. The Flemish region partially recognizes “trailers and other forms of experimental housing”.
A self-build Tiny House project? Order your construction plan or contact the Casakub team to discuss it!