Interest in caravans, tiny houses rises after quakes
Gizem Coşkunarda - ISTANBUL
Devastating earthquakes in the country’s south in early February has led those residing in earthquake-prone areas to relocate to caravans and tiny houses.
Since possible large-scale earthquakes that are expected to occur in Istanbul and the western province of İzmir came back to the agenda after the Kahramanmaraş-centered quakes, numerous people have started to apply building assessment tests or decided to move to safer places.
However, those who do not feel safe in their current houses but have a limited budget to settle in a new apartment have found another solution by turning to alternative lifestyles such as tiny houses and caravans.
Accordingly, the demand for trailer caravans increased by 500 percent after the Feb. 6 earthquakes, stated Tolga Özarslan, the sales manager of one of the leading caravan manufacturing companies in the country.
Apart from Istanbul and İzmir, caravan demands from residents in the southern quake-hit provinces of Adana, Mersin and Hatay are on the rise.
Those who bought a caravan prefer to settle in the northwestern province of Sakarya where caravan spaces have already been established.
Another alternative lifestyle preferred against earthquake risk is tiny houses, which have become popular especially during the pandemic period.
Though the interest in such houses decreased due to the slowing down effects of Covid-19, tiny houses emerged once again as an alternative accommodation solution for many people after the expert’s warnings regarding the expected Istanbul earthquake.
Istanbul residents show more interest in tiny houses than those residing in the southern quake-hit provinces, noted Cem Demirer, the founder of a tiny house manufacturer.
“Before the earthquakes, only seven or eight people used to come to our showroom in Istanbul on weekends, now we host nearly 150-200 customers,” Demirer said.
“There is also a 10-fold increase in demand,” he added.
This increasing demand for tiny houses gave birth to a new concept called “tiny house villages,” that provide new residents various infrastructure services regarding water, electricity, internet and security needs.
While tiny house villages in the capital Ankara, Izmir, the northwestern province of Çanakkale and the northern province of Bolu have been running for some time, similar areas in Istanbul are mostly located in districts such as Çatalca, Beykoz and Arnavutköy.
The interest in tiny houses has increased fivefold compared to the pandemic period, with the price of tiny houses starting from 750,000 Turkish Liras (nearly $39,000).
