NEW HOUSING impresses as the most important meeting place for tiny houses in Europe

Taking home comforts with you when you move: what Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius described as utopia almost 100 years ago is now reality for the Tiny House Community. The NEW HOUSING - Tiny House Festival at the Karlsruhe Trade Fair Centre has established itself as a fixed address for the industry from all over Europe. Nowhere else is there a bigger offer for fans of tiny houses. Nowhere else can visitors experience such a wide variety of tiny houses from numerous European countries. And nowhere else can visitors meet so many like-minded people, suppliers and experts as at the Tiny House Festival at the Karlsruhe Trade Fair Centre.

The fifth edition of Europe's largest Tiny House Festival took place from 28 to 30 June. Almost 80 exhibitors showcased everything that goes with living in a tiny house. These included over 30 small buildings - from Tiny Houses On Wheels, modular houses, mini houses, classic timber frame or lightweight aluminium constructions to micro flats. Once again, more than 8,000 visitors also found out about practical room solutions, construction planning, plots of land and financing as well as accessories.

"Tiny homes are becoming increasingly popular as a possible living concept. More and more local authorities are also promoting tiny house developments and see them as an opportunity to counteract the housing shortage and rising rents. Since its first edition six years ago, Messe Karlsruhe has developed NEW HOUSING into the central meeting point for the community. What began in 2018 with just a few houses and a small exhibition area has now become the European industry meeting point. Visitors from all German states and ten per cent from abroad can view the largest variety of small houses at Messe Karlsruhe. The Karlsruhe Trade Fair Centre also paved the way for the founding of the Tiny House Association. This makes Karlsruhe the centre for the tiny house movement in Germany and Europe," says Britta Wirtz, Managing Director of Messe Karlsruhe.

High willingness to buy and demand meet suitable offers

Numerous visitors have already come to Karlsruhe with concrete ideas, visions and business models - like Sandra Greiner from Offenburg. She would like to offer assisted living for senior citizens in tiny houses: "I'm looking for answers to questions about finding land, planning permission and, of course, the houses themselves. And NEW HOUSING is helping me a lot. This is my first time here and I'm impressed by the variety of houses on show."

Another trade visitor is Klaus Ruoff from Kirchheim Teck, who is also looking to invest: "I'm planning to build several tiny houses on the Cape Verde Islands. The application has been submitted, I'm still waiting for authorisation. This is my second time at NEW HOUSING. I'm hoping to find the right information here."

Three quarters of visitors consider the Tiny House Festival to be a very important investment. Overall, visitors - including 17 per cent of trade visitors - were very satisfied with NEW HOUSING. A survey peak of around 95 per cent was achieved here.

High level of satisfaction among suppliers

The exhibitors from all over Europe confirm the buying interest: "This is our second time at NEW HOUSING and we will be here again next year. Our ten employees are working at full capacity. We have many guests who have proactively signalled that they want to buy," says Vanessa Wenk from Immowenk Immobilien in Karlsruhe.

Dominika Farys exhibited at NEW HOUSING for the first time with Forward Homes from Norway. She showed her modular house in the Tiny Giants Area and wants to come back next year: "As soon as the fair opened, there was a huge rush of visitors. We have already been to trade fairs in Oslo and Warsaw, but NEW HOUSING surpasses them by far. Some of our visitors want to buy tiny houses for themselves, others are planning investments in the B2B sector. We are very satisfied."

All of this emphasises that NEW HOUSING is Europe's largest, most important and most influential trade fair for tiny houses.

New workshop programme sold out

New to the portfolio this year were the workshops on topics such as "Tiny House as Retirement Security", "Mini Houses and Building Law" and "Tiny House Room Layout", which were sold out right from the start. René Naumann, the responsible division manager, emphasises: "The workshops are an excellent addition to the programme. Mini houses are as individual as their owners. Especially when compared to conventional houses, it is extremely important to fully customise them to the needs of the occupants when there is less space. We succeeded in doing this with the workshops. And the positive feedback from the participants proves us right."

This is also confirmed by Heidi Pintschovius, who currently lives in the United Kingdom and is planning her return to Germany with and in a tiny house: "I really enjoyed the workshop. The two speakers brought lifestyle questions to their workshop, the answers to which can't be googled anywhere."

Expert forum always very well attended

Once again this year, the expert forum in the action hall in the entrance area of the Karlsruhe Trade Fair Centre was an integral part of the trade fair. Every day from morning to evening, people from the industry gave talks on topics such as "Phytotiny, small mobile plant purification systems", "Self-build room modules or micro houses" or "Tiny house financing". Participants also took the opportunity to network with the speakers and each other after the presentations.

Festival character emphasises the idea of networking

Even more than in the past, the festival character played a role in the conception of the trade fair. In addition to the lounge atmosphere in the atrium with a bar, DJ and food trucks, musicians provided live music on all three days. "We see that, in addition to the investment decision per se, there is a great need for dialogue within the community. Buying a mini-home always involves personal dialogue. Here, people can find like-minded people, suitable suppliers and a suitable feel-good atmosphere that reflects this lifestyle. With our festival character, we offer a pleasant atmosphere that invites people to buy, but also to exchange ideas and network," says Ramona Jonait, project manager of NEW HOUSING.

Date for 2025

In 2025, Messe Karlsruhe will once again be the most important European platform for small-scale living with NEW HOUSING. The event will then take place from 27 to 29 June.