Tiny house settlement in Münster must be evacuated

Tiny house settlement in Münster must be evacuated

The only tiny house settlement in Münster, more precisely in Münster-Gievenbeck, is about to end. The residents recently received an eviction notice from the city. The Breilbusch settlement will be evacuated at the end of August, which did not come as a surprise to many residents. Right from the start of the project they were aware that they lived in a legal gray area and that the settlement could be dissolved at any time.

The members of “Lütt Huus Münster”, an initiative for tiny and mini houses, closely followed the developments around the Breilbusch settlement. The city administration classified the settlement as illegal, which is why its end was inevitable. The administration wanted to prevent such settlements from setting a precedent for fear that similar settlements could spring up throughout the city.

Matthias Staudt from “Lütt Huus Münster” sees the end of the settlement as an opportunity to show the city how legal hurdles could be avoided. He suggests using brownfield land temporarily for tiny house settlements, especially those properties on which construction projects are not expected to start for a few years. Such a strategy could represent a sensible interim solution to activate unused areas without competing with residential construction.