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You wouldn't expect a Tiny House to get stolen, or for there to be a need to write this article, however here I was reading about it in the news this week. Headlines reading "Womans Tiny House Stolen..." on stuff.co.nz. Most Tiny Homes are unique and usually around 7.2m-7.6m long by 2.5m wide by 4.2m high, so they aren't exactly easy to hide. It's a good wake up call for all of us "Tiny Housers" or "normal" Caravan owners to start thinking about security options for our homes. Tiny Houses are an affordable housing option in big cities like Auckland, however they are still a big investment if you have had one professionally built (usually around $90,000 to $120,000), or if you have "DIYed", you would have invested both time and money. Let's protect those investments and prevent our homes from being stolen! Measures/ Ideas to secure your Tiny Home: My husband and I have been living in a Tiny House for a year and a half and these are some of the security measures we have either implemented or have had suggested from other Tiny House owners. Padlocked gate We are fortunate enough to have access to a gate which we have padlocked shut. You can get padlocks with built in alarms so if anyone tries to cut it, an alarm automatically goes off. You can also get ones these days with built in cameras which send video footage to your phone if someone is trying to tamper with it. Block it in If you don't have fenced off land with a gate, then block the exits by parking between the road and the Tiny House. Security cameras Technology is so great these days. We bought a 'Cleverloop' security camera system that links to our phone. As soon as the cameras detect movement it automatically sends a live feed to your phone and records to a "cloud" of choice like dropbox. The first time we went away on holiday and left our Tiny House, we were at Auckland Airport waiting to fly out to Australia, when both my husband and I's phone alerts went off, we were sent a live feed of someone peeping in our windows! We saw that they just turned around and left, or else we could have called police and watched them catch the thieves. It was such a clear imagine we were able to track down who it was, and fortunately it turns out she wasn't scoping the place, but rather was an overly eager Tiny House enthusiast, who since apologised profusely for jumping a locked gate! Wheel Clamps As these Tiny Houses are generally registered as Caravans, and are usually insured as such, some insurance companies won't allow you to take the wheels off. So the next best thing is to clamp them up. It is also advised to have this in conjunction with a hitch lock as an extra deterrent. Tracking Devices There are a number of affordable options these days to track your items such as Tile, and Trackr which use crowd GPS tracking which is activated when it's near another device, so why not hide one in your Tiny House. Alternatively, for a bit more money you can purchase specific GPS trackers which will not require relying on others to have nearby devices. In the 'NZ Tiny House Community' facebook group Sharla May shares how she has repurposed an old phone as a tracking device, "I've ended up making a hidden compartment to house a mobile phone that runs an app 'Find my phone'. I can track it on my main mobile when needed. The second mobile just shares my mobile data. You could turn on when you go out like you would an alarm or keep it running all the time like I do." Chain down the trailer You can attach the trailer down to anything fixed such as a fence post or anything else which is hard to move. Another woman within the "NZ Tiny House Community" facebook group said after almost having her caravan stolen she has attached it to another "normal" trailer towbar to towbar, so that it can't be towed. Don't be put of Tiny Houses because of this theft! After reading the news you may be a bit hesitant on going down the Tiny House route. However, Tiny Houses are a great way for people to own their own homes where it may not otherwise be possible. You can purchase or build these Tiny Houses for less than the cost of a 20% deposit on average "normal" house in areas like Auckland NZ, so I wouldn't let this theft (which was quickly resolved, "Tiny House Stolen from West Auckland Found") put you off from accomplishing your dreams of Tiny House ownership! As always, I hope you have found this blog post helpful, and if you have more suggestions, post them in the comments! -Kasia xx  |