Tiny houses for low-income communities in Sri Lanka: key stakeholder motivations

Purpose Poverty and homelessness have remained persistent across the globe. Sri Lanka faces an urgent need for more affordable housing solutions, particularly for low-income communities. Currently, low-income households (LIHH) in Sri Lanka are left with limited, standardized housing options that fail to meet their requirements, leaving them dissatisfied. Innovative, sustainable housing solutions such as tiny housing (TH) remain unexplored in Sri Lanka. This study aims to identify the motivations of the two primary stakeholders involved in low-income housing (LIH) projects: government stakeholders and prospective residents, for effective adaptation of TH in Sri Lanka. Design/methodology/approach Sixteen experts in LIH and related fields were interviewed to gain a holistic view of drivers that would influence government stakeholders to invest and LIHHs to transition to tiny living. The qualitative data gathered were subjected to narrative code-based analysis. Findings This study is one of the first to explore TH in Sri Lanka, filling a key gap in existing literature not only locally but globally. Findings revealed six drivers that would motivate government stakeholders to invest in TH as a LIH alternative and six drivers that would motivate LIHHs in Sri Lanka to make a transition to TH. While the government sector was driven by the goal of achieving sustainable development and providing affordable housing, LIHHs were influenced by personal and psychological factors. Originality/value The study aims to fill the affordable housing gap in Sri Lanka by identifying factors for successful tiny house transitions for key stakeholders involved.