QUICK FACTS:
Are Tiny Houses Legal In Utah: Yes
Tiny House Costs In Utah: $30,000 – $200,000
Tiny House Friendly Cities: Salt Lake City, Eagle Mountain City, Provo
Zion’s Tiny Homes St. George, Utah
Everywhere Co Lehi, Utah
Brand was looking for freedom. He bought a 30-foot travel trailer and set out on a 20,000-mile journey through the American West with his wife and three kids. This journey inspired him so much that he wanted others to experience the same kind of freedom in their own life. Thus, Everywhere Co was born.
Browse through the company’s designs online including A-frame homes, classic tiny homes on wheels and on foundation, barndominiums, and more.
Modal Living Salt Lake City, Utah
Wasatch Trailer Sales Kaysville, Utah
Mountain West Trailers Heber City, Utah
Poulsen Trailer Sales Logan, Utah
Tiny Houses For Sale In Utah
Why pack up and move to the desert terrain that surrounds the state of Utah? It might be dry, but it certainly is not void of adventure, community, and many opportunities.
Locals love the Beehive State for its four distinct seasons, each with a personality all its own. Summer and winter are extreme, and you’ll get to experience the fullness of each season. Fall and spring are gorgeous. Residents describe fall as a season full of spectacular colors that linger on and on.
The state is also known for its breathtaking state and national parks, abundant ski resorts, vast mountain ranges, charming small towns, and low crime rate. It’s a great place to live if you’re seeking nature, adventure, and freedom from the hustle and bustle of more urban states.
Visitors enjoy exploring Zion National Park, Antelope Island, the Bonneville Salt Flats, and The Beehive House. Tourists also love indulging in Utah’s rich foodie and bar culture. Book your next family vacation in this spectacular state.
Moving into a tiny house community facilitates an intimate social connection between members as they strive to educate and genuinely improve lives. There are several intentional living communities throughout Utah that support simple living, homesteading, and sustainability amongst their residents.
Riverbed Ranch Homesteading Community
Located in Riverbed Ranch, Utah, this homesteading community is made up of 250 farm-steaders who enjoy a self-sufficient lifestyle with one another. The Riverbed Ranch Community is being developed by the Utah OSR Land Co-Op as a non-profit land cooperative striving to increase self-reliance and self-sustainability.
The intentional living community offers each family a 2-acre lot for their homesteading purposes for only $30,000. The community is able to offer this extremely low price because it is funded by a local nonprofit.
Families Use Their Land To Build
- Energy Efficient Homes
- Barns and Greenhouses
- Gardens and Orchards
- Water Supplies
- Alternative Energy Sources
- Sanitation Systems
- Solar panels for electricity
- Passive Solar Home Designs
- Geothermal Heating And Cooling Elements
- Backup Fuel (Wooden Stove Or Propane)
Wasatch Commons Cohousing Community
The Wasatch Common Cohousing Community aims to balance the traditional advantages of home ownership with the benefits of shared common facilities and ongoing connections with neighbors. The community consists of 26 clustered townhouses located on 4.5 beautiful acres near downtown Salt Lake City.
The members of the community work together to collectively tend to the land and perform common chores. Most community members own their houses, but a few homes are rented. Wasatch Commons is located 10 minutes from downtown Salt Lake City. Common facilities include internet, a common house, garden, library, workshop, fire pit, gym, and outdoor recreation areas.
The community invites those who are interested in joining the co-op to attend their communal Sunday potluck dinner at 6 p.m. or Saturday morning café from 8 to 10 a.m. You can also investigate their website for more information.
Utah Tiny House Community
This page was created for all tiny house enthusiasts in the state of Utah. The community welcomes fans of tiny houses and also includes lots of discussion about the first tiny house community that is currently being developed in Utah. Anyone who lives in Utah who has questions, wisdom, advice, or tiny house enthusiasm to share is welcome to post.
Utah Homesteading
The Utah Homesteading Facebook page was created by a group of like-minded people who are interested in learning homesteading basics such as sewing, beekeeping, gardening, canning and food preservation, and more. Join the page to discuss all things homesteading and farming in the state of Utah.
Gardening In Utah
This Facebook page is for those in Utah who love to garden and are seeking a community they can talk with about all things garden including landscaping, vegetables and fruits, flowers, soil types, gardening in the desert, and more.
Utah has a very unique terrain. The creators of the page believe there are too many discussions about plants and plant problems that only look at the short term and incomplete observations to solve problems. They hope to use this page to improve the quality of discussion.
The State of Utah has been a little slow to hop onto the tiny house movement. It has yet to centralize regulations that specifically address tiny homes as residential dwellings.
Due to this, a lot of what you’ll need to know when building tiny in Utah comes down to city and county laws and the regulations set by those individual municipalities.
I’ve listed some of the regulations tied to specific cities and counties down below, but there are some statewide regulations worth noting.
Are Tiny Houses On Foundation Legal In Utah?
In Utah, building a tiny house on foundation is likely to be preferred over building a tiny house on wheels.
This does not mean you can’t build a tiny house on wheels and travel around Utah, but it’s going to be a little more complex if you choose to go the mobile route.
With tiny homes on foundation, Utah has yet to create or recognize a statewide code for regulating them. Due to this, your tiny house on foundation should defer to Utah’s zoning and building regulations that apply to traditional dwellings.
Some cities and counties have created their own ordinances that specifically accommodate the preferred size and features of tiny homes, but in order to learn more, you should contact your local municipality within the area that you live in Utah.
Are Tiny Houses On Wheels Legal In Utah?
Like I said above, living full time in a tiny home on wheels in Utah is a tad more complex due to the lack of statewide regulations. Unfortunately, if you want to use your tiny house on wheels as a permanent residence in Utah, you could possibly face hefty charges, depending on where you live.
This could occur if your tiny house on wheels is classified as a recreational vehicle by your local municipality. Charges like this are due to the fact that recreational vehicles in Utah face some fairly strict laws about where you can park and for how long, which will apply to your tiny house on wheels due to its classification as an RV in Utah.
However, not all counties recognize tiny homes on wheels as recreational vehicles. Some cities and counties have opted to recognize tiny homes on wheels as dwellings, which, in those cases, would make it much easier to live in your tiny home full-time!
Contact your local municipality to decipher the classification of your tiny homes on wheels, as it will be entirely dependent on the city or county you live in. Whichever way your tiny house is classified, all tiny houses on wheels must meet American Safety Standards to be legal in Utah.
Tiny House Building Codes In Key Counties Of Utah
In the state of Utah, counties actually hold a lot of individual power when it comes to regulating building laws and regulations. Utah counties have a lot of say when it comes to what is and is not allowed.
Washington County, Utah
Washington County requires a minimum square footage of under 300 feet. Tiny houses on foundations are allowed in residential areas as long as they are hooked up to utilities.
Additionally, tiny houses on wheels are classified as park model recreational vehicles and thus cannot be lived in full time. All of these specific regulations are outlines by Washington County’s own ordinance, Ordinance 2016-1069-O (Read The PDF Here).
Wasatch County, Utah
Things are a tad complicated for those who want to live in a tiny home in Wasatch County, Utah. Like many other counties in Utah, Wasatch does not have its own definition for tiny homes in their codes, making them inaccessible.
Salt Lake County, Utah
In Salt Lake County, Utah, ordinances allow homes under 400 square feet to be placed on a residential lot with an existing full-size home, as long as the tiny home is on a foundation and meets basic sanitation requirements. This is great news for those who want to live long-term in a tiny house near Salt Lake County.
Tiny House Building Codes In Key Cities Of Utah
Specific cities in Utah also have leeway to create their own laws that either go along with or go against the regulations of that city’s respective county or Utah’s statewide code. Some cities in Utah are more accommodating of the tiny house lifestyle while other cities are much more restrictive.
Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah’s capital, has actually developed its own independent ordinance created in September 2010. This lays out regulations on tiny homes as accessory dwelling units.
Salt Lake City permits accessory dwelling units (ADUs) that are either 50% of the square footage of the principal structure or 650 square feet, depending on which number is greater.
Eagle Mountain City, Utah
Eagle Mountain City has made adjustments to its individual regulations by creating an Eagle Mountain City ordinance (Read The PDF Here). This code supports tiny house enthusiasts who want to live in their tiny house full-time. In tier I residential zones only, Eagle Mountain City residents can live in their tiny house on wheels long-term.
Provo, Utah
In Provo, Utah, The Provo Municipal Council began discussion on an ordinance to allow accessory dwelling units attached to owner occupied homes in specific residential zones. This ordinance would include the use of tiny houses as ADUs.
Tiny House Building Codes In Utah:
Tiny House Laws In Utah:
*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/
Hi –
Thanks for these resources. I contacted Modal homes about a build in Cache Balley but they pretty much do most of their work in SLC or CA.
I love the Stack modular homes as the designs are clean and beautiful but cost more than what I could afford.
Best wishes