QUICK FACTS:
Are Tiny Houses Legal In Missouri: Yes
Tiny House Costs In Missouri: $30,000 – $70,000
Tiny House Friendly Cities: Kansas City, Branson, St. Louis
Tiny Homes Missouri Jefferson City, Missouri
PRICE RANGE
$50,000-$95,000
Custom Container Living Archie, Missouri
PRICE RANGE
$53,000-$186,000
Midwest Tiny Homes & Cabins Leavenworth, Kansas
PRICE RANGE
$50,000-$95,000
Midwest Tiny Homes & Cabins offers many options when it comes to materials and provides a delivery service. You can learn more about what they offer on their website.
Sojourner Blue Springs, Missouri
PRICE RANGE
$4,000-$20,000
Heartland Trailer Manufacturing Sikeston, Missouri
PRICE RANGE
$2,000-$15,000
Dolittle Trailer Manufacturing Holts Summit, Missouri
PRICE RANGE
$3,000-$14,000
Tiny Houses For Sale In Missouri
The state of Missouri has a lot to offer its residents. The low cost of utilities, groceries, rental fees, and other necessities is a huge pull for many. Missourians enjoy both cities and rural areas, a rich culture, gorgeous nature, sporting events, divine cuisine, and more throughout the state.
If you’re looking to get a taste of the tiny life in Missouri but don’t want to move into a tiny house full time, look into these tiny house rentals.
The Hideaway In Kansas City
The Hideaway is a new tiny house village located 45 minutes south of Kansas City in West Line, Missouri. The community allows you to lease a space for you and your tiny home on wheels and is made up of a total of eight tiny house lots. Their lots range from $425 to $525 a month. Hideaway lots include 30/50 Amp power, water, trash, sewer, and basic internet service.
The Hideaway was created to serve residents of south Kansas City and intentionally values community building and organic living. The tiny village is spread across 5 beautiful acres peppered with luscious forest and creek beds. If you’re looking for a natural haven to live in your own tiny house on wheels, The Hideaway might be for you.
Shared Amenities Include:
- Community Garden
- Outdoor Seating, Firepit, And Picnic Areas
- Spring-Fed Creek
- Laundry Room
- Internet Service
- Dog Park
Elevate Branson
The Elevate Branson tiny house community was created to help residents of Branson address the housing affordability crisis in the city. The Elevate community houses multiple microbusinesses, job training opportunities, and mentorship relationships to provide a helpful living environment for friends and neighbors in the community.
The community is made up of 48 tiny houses for a single resident or a couple. The tiny homes are prefabricated, permanent, 400-square-foot homes complete with an open kitchen, dining and living area, a small bedroom, one bath, and a front porch.
Tiny House Adventures
The Tiny House Adventures resort is made up of several tiny homes and tiny cabins to rent for a family vacation, guys weekend, or girl group getaway. The property sits on Lake Tiny Town which is surrounded by 11 tiny houses, each with a different design and unique style. Check out their website to reserve your spot.
Missouri Tiny House Hopefuls
Missouri Tiny House Hopefuls is a Facebook group for those in Missouri who are interested in building, renting, designing, and living in tiny houses. The members of this group desire to build a positive community for sharing inspiration, enthusiasm, knowledge and support through the tiny living community.
Missouri Homesteaders
Missouri Homesteaders is a Facebook group created for like-minded people to share experiences and ideas on homesteading in the state of Missouri. The page covers topics like finding land in Missouri, raising chickens, living off grid, and more.
Missouri Gardeners
This Facebook page is for those in Missouri who love to garden. Members of the page exchange ideas, seeds, information, and tips with others in the state of Missouri. They talk with about all things garden including landscaping, vegetables and fruits, flowers, soil types, and more.
It’s honestly pretty easy to live in a tiny house in Missouri, but that isn’t necessarily because the building laws in Missouri are especially accommodating. In Missouri, the legality of tiny homes is up to individual cities and counties as opposed to being centralized at the state level.
With this being the case, many places in Missouri don’t actually have zoning or building codes, so it ends up being pretty easy to live in your RV or tiny home in the state.
Are Tiny Houses On Wheels Legal In Missouri?
In Missouri, special permits are not required for tiny houses on wheels as long as the living area is less than 320 square feet (excluding built-in equipment—such as wardrobes, closets, kitchen units or fixtures—and bath and toilet rooms), and the home is towed by a motorized vehicle.
Legally, tiny homes on wheels are considered travel trailers by the State of Missouri. Missouri defines a travel trailer as “a portable vehicular unit mounted on wheels designed to provide temporary living quarters for recreational, camping, or travel use.”
For those who want to live in their tiny house on wheels as their full-time house, this can cause some restrictions.
Restrictions On Tiny Homes On Wheels:
- It is unlawful to park in a street or public space
- It unlawful to park in some cities and counties
- Travel trailers are not allowed inside city limits
However, not all independent counties and cities abide by these statewide restrictions. Some specific cities and counties in Missouri have created laws that are more accommodating to tiny housers or use Appendix Q from the IRC.
Are Tiny Houses On Foundation Legal In Missouri?
Like I said above, Missouri hasn’t yet adopted Appendix Q to support the legality of tiny homes, but individual cities and counties have approved the use of tiny homes in their individual jurisdictions.
Missouri has very loose statewide building laws, so the legality of your tiny house on foundation will really depend on what size and type of dwellings are legal in your specific city or county in Missouri. If you are seeking more information on whether or not tiny homes are legal in your area, call your local representative to gain more insight into what the specific laws are where you live.
Tiny House Laws in Key Missouri Counties: Local Zoning Ordinances
The counties in the state of Missouri have a lot of room for variation when it comes to building laws. Each county has the freedom to amend the statewide building laws in order to accommodate the needs of their specific demographic.
Franklin County, Missouri
Franklin County allows tiny houses used as backyard ADUs as long as they are on foundation and lots are a minimum of 1 acre. Additionally, the ADUs must be a maximum of 500 square feet or 50% of the size of primary residential structures, whichever is less.
Lawrence County, Missouri
Lawrence County, Missouri, is very friendly to tiny houses and tiny homeowners due to their lack of regulations. There are no zoning restrictions, building codes, or regulations in this county, and you don’t need a building permit for your tiny home in this county unless you want your own septic system.
Warren County, Missouri
In April of 2022, the planning and zoning board began toying with adding tiny homes to their building codes. Results form this meeting have not yet been solidified, but there is hope for the tiny living community in Warren County that change will happen soon.
Tiny House Laws in Key Missouri Cities: Local Zoning Ordinances
There are several cities that have restrictions which make it illegal to live in a tiny home, especially one on wheels. Other cities have specifically allowed tiny houses into their city-wide zoning codes.
Tiny Home Friendly Cities In Missouri:
- Saint Charles, Missouri
- Branson, Missouri
- St. Louis, Missouri
- Jefferson City, Missouri
- Kansas City, Missouri
- Columbia, Missouri
- Springfield, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri
Even though the State of Missouri has not adopted Appendix Q at the statewide level, Kansas City has adopted it into its citywide laws on its own accord, making Kansas City friendly for tiny homes on foundation. However, it is still illegal to park a tiny house on wheels in a public space in the city.
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis has its own Residential Tiny House Checklist (Read the PDF here) which specifies that they must be on foundation to be considered a dwelling unit and be legal for permanent housing.
However, if your tiny house is on a permanent chassis with wheels and has been certified by the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) or the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), your tiny house can be placed in a mobile home park. Any other type of mobile house or tiny house on wheels can only be used for recreation in St. Louis.
Jefferson City, Missouri
Jefferson City’s Activate Jefferson City 2040 (Read the PDF here) plan includes tiny houses and backyard ADUs in its plan. This plan was created when community members came forward and advocated for the inclusion of tiny houses in the city’s codes.
Tiny House Building Codes In Missouri:
Tiny House Laws In Missouri:
*Disclaimer: The information provided on this website should not be taken as an expert opinion, consultation, or advisement of any kind. Building codes, home building, zoning, local laws etc are complicated and ultimately your responsibility to execute legally and safely. You must do your own research, consult with and verify with all applicable authorities, local officials, regulatory bodies, code and zoning officials, and city/state/federal governments. See our full legal page for further information here: https://thetinylife.com/about-us/legal/
How do I find the rules for having a Tiny home on a foundation in Columbia, MO?