Affordable housing advocates are working together to develop a community of tiny homes in Gwinnett County. The Gwinnett Housing Corporation and the housing nonprofit MicroLife Institute will sell cottage-style homes of up to 750 square feet.

The homes will be available to people earning up to 80% of the area's median income.

The project is designed to be a step between an apartment and purchasing a single-family home. MicroLife Executive Director Will Johnston said they’re using housing density to make the units affordable.

“If we can use land better and be more creative with how we design and put houses closer together and build in a way that actually fosters community, we can save a lot of money and give that savings to the ability to purchase these houses at attainable prices,” he said.

Johnston said the institute already completed an affordable cottage community in Clarkston using the tiny home model. Now they’re going to apply that knowledge to Gwinnett County. The goal is to secure a piece of property for the project within the next two months.

In September 2023, the Gwinnett County Commission unanimously passed an ordinance expanding living options. It went into effect in January. Gwinnett Housing CEO Lejla Prljaca said before this measure was approved, the group was limited in what housing options it could develop.

“What the rewrite of the ordinance allowed us to do is to be more creative,” she said. “We know that there is a lot of demand for tiny homes" and living with a smaller carbon footprint.

Prljaca said anyone interested in the tiny homes program should visit the Gwinnett Housing Corporation's recently opened homeowner resource center in Norcross for assistance.

Tags: housing  Tiny homes  Gwinnett County  Georgia