Find the right plot of land for your tiny house with the land exchange – and offer it
Fabian Müller is the founder and managing director of Vilcomo and, as a municipal consultant and building land developer, is an expert in networking between municipalities and people willing to build. His latest brainwave: the space exchange.
Visitors to NEW HOUSING 2024 were most interested in Fabian Müller's land exchange for tiny houses. On a large map, people offering and seeking land were able to place a pin on a map of Germany and thus connect with each other.
The land exchange has also been available in digital form since the beginning of October. In an interview with NEW HOUSING, Müller explains how the exchange works, how many pins have already been placed and how it will continue.
NEW HOUSING: Fabian, you launched the land exchange. How did it come about and what are you trying to achieve with it?
Fabian Müller: Mainly from two experiences during NEW HOUSING. On Friday, for example, a property owner came to our stand who had land on which tiny houses could be built. On Sunday, visitors came to our stand who wanted to build a tiny house and were looking for a suitable plot of land in exactly this region. So I thought to myself that we should bring both parties together. Outsourcing was the keyword. Secondly, I realised that tiny houses suffer from their marketing. It is often suggested that anything is possible with them. You can build anywhere. Of course, this invites you to dream. But as a result, many sites are offered where building is not possible at all.
NEW HOUSING: During NEW HOUSING 2024, you had a haptic land exchange with you. How many searches and offers did you get there?
Fabian Müller: Almost 40 offers were pinned up – mainly in southern Germany. That's where most of the visitors came from. In addition, almost 350 people came who would like to build a tiny house. After we had had the idea of digitally mapping the offers and requests, we wrote to each person individually and asked them to mark themselves digitally. About 250 seekers complied with this request. I checked the pinned properties manually for their buildability, so that ultimately 30 properties ready for construction are registered. Incidentally, several small houses can often be built in each tiny house area, sometimes up to ten.
NEW HOUSING: What happens now with the searches and offers and how will the land exchange continue?
Fabian Müller: So far, we have been processing each entry by hand. Often, landowners are not left alone, and we want to prevent that. That's why you can only enter the region on the land exchange and not the exact address. If we see that interested parties and providers match, we suggest a video conference. There, the parties can get to know each other. After that, we withdraw. But of course we continue to offer our help. So far, we have been working on the project on a voluntary basis and for idealistic reasons.
NEW HOUSING: The next NEW HOUSING will take place from 27 to 29 June 2025. What can we expect from you then?
Fabian Müller: I don't yet know in what form and how, but I will be there.
