Wooded hills of Brown County State Park in southern Indiana.

Tiny Homes in Indiana: Laws, Rules and Communities

Updated November 4, 2026. Some laws may have changed since then. Confirm with your city or county before you buy land or a home.

The short answer

Yes, you can live in a tiny home full time in Indiana, on a permanent foundation and where local zoning allows it. Indiana adopted the tiny house appendix of its residential code statewide, so a house of 400 square feet or less gets its own ceiling, loft and ladder rules anywhere in the state. A tiny home on wheels is a different case, and where you can live in one is up to your city or county. A 2026 state law now defines accessory dwelling units and requires every city, town and county to hold a hearing on its housing rules by January 1, 2027, but it does not require any of them to allow ADUs. Indiana has the 9th lowest cost of living of the 50 states, a flat 2.95 percent income tax (plus local income taxes), an effective property tax rate of 0.76 percent (22nd lowest), and homeowners insurance averaging $2,985 a year.

On this page. Quick facts, the rules in plain words, where to start, living in Indiana, communities and common questions.

In Indiana, the state writes the building code and your city or county decides zoning and issues building permits. A tiny home on a permanent foundation, meaning it is anchored to a base built into the ground, like a concrete slab or a crawl space, is a house under the state code, and if it is 400 square feet or less, the code's tiny house appendix applies to it. A tiny home on wheels, built on a trailer so it can be towed, has no category of its own in state law, and how it is labeled is not settled.

This guide covers the state code and its tiny house appendix, permits and the new permit deadlines, homes on wheels, campgrounds, manufactured and modular homes, ADUs, the 2025 and 2026 housing laws, septic and wells, and the communities we could confirm.

Quick facts

On a foundation (anchored to a base in the ground): a house under the Indiana Residential Code.
Building code in force: the 2020 Indiana Residential Code, which adopts the 2018 International Residential Code with Indiana changes. From July 1, 2027, it becomes a Department of Homeland Security rule that only a new state law can change.
Tiny house rules: Appendix Q is adopted statewide for homes of 400 square feet or less, not counting lofts.
Permits: issued by your city or county where it requires them. Since January 1, 2026, a city or county that does must meet state deadlines for one and two family homes.
Minimum house size: none in state law that we found. Local zoning may set one.
On wheels (built on a trailer): no category of its own in state law. A certified park model counts as a recreational vehicle. Local zoning decides where you can live in one.
ADUs (a second, smaller home on the same lot as a house): defined in state law since July 1, 2026, but not required. Cities and counties set their own rules.
Septic (an underground system that treats wastewater where there is no city sewer): a written permit from the local health department before you build or place the home.

Can you live in a tiny home full time in Indiana?

Yes, on a permanent foundation where local zoning allows it. On wheels, it depends on your city or county.

On a foundation, a tiny home is a house. It has to meet the Indiana Residential Code, including the tiny house appendix if it is 400 square feet or less, and it needs sewer or a permitted septic system.
On wheels, we found no state law that allows or bans living full time in one. Local zoning decides. Jefferson County, for example, allows an RV to be used as a dwelling only in a campground, and living in one for more than 14 days in a row only in an approved campground.
We found no statewide minimum house size. Ask your city or county whether it sets one.

The rules in plain words

Building code

Indiana's code for one and two family homes is the 2020 Indiana Residential Code (675 IAC 14-4.4). It adopts the 2018 International Residential Code with Indiana's changes. The state Fire Prevention and Building Safety Commission adopted it in 2019, the Department of Homeland Security lists it as in effect since December 26, 2019, and the commission readopted it in November 2025. The code year in the name (2020) is not the same as the model code it is built on (2018), so ask which edition your building department uses if a builder quotes a different one.

We found no newer residential code in the works. A 2026 law, House Enrolled Act 1003 (signed March 12, 2026), ends the commission on July 1, 2027, and makes its rules, including this code and its tiny house appendix, rules of the Department of Homeland Security. After that date, the department cannot revise or repeal those rules, other than technical corrections, unless the General Assembly passes a law allowing it. Starting July 1, 2028, the department must send the legislature yearly recommendations for changes. So the code you build to today, tiny house appendix included, stays in place after July 2027 unless lawmakers pass a law to change it.

The tiny house appendix

The national code has an appendix with rules for tiny houses, called Appendix Q. The appendix's own text says it is not mandatory unless a local adopting ordinance points to it. Indiana adopted it in the state rule itself (675 IAC 14-4.4-242) and deleted that sentence, so it applies statewide. A tiny house is "a dwelling that is 400 square feet (37 m2) or less in floor area excluding lofts."

Under Appendix Q:

Ceilings in living spaces and hallways must be at least 6 feet 8 inches. Bathrooms, toilet rooms and kitchens can be as low as 6 feet 4 inches. Lofts can be lower.
A loft must have at least 35 square feet of floor and be at least 5 feet wide in every direction. Floor under a sloped ceiling lower than 3 feet does not count toward that area. Under a gable roof with a slope of at least 6 in 12, only floor under a ceiling lower than 16 inches is left out.
Stairs to a loft can be as narrow as 17 inches at or above the handrail. Ladders to a loft need rungs at least 12 inches wide, spaced 10 to 14 inches apart, and able to hold 300 pounds on any rung.
Loft guards must be at least 36 inches high, or half the clear height to the ceiling, whichever is less.
The home still needs emergency escape openings. A roof window in a sleeping loft can count if the bottom of the opening is no more than 44 inches above the loft floor and it meets the size rules.

If you would rather skip the loft, see tiny home layouts without a loft.

Permits and inspections

For one and two family homes, the Indiana Department of Homeland Security says local units of government do the inspections, and it quotes state law (IC 36-7-2-9) requiring every city, town and county to require compliance with the state building code. Whether you need a building permit, and what it covers, depends on your city or county. White County, for example, publishes a permit handout for one and two family homes.

A 2025 law, House Enrolled Act 1005 (signed May 1, 2025), set deadlines that took effect January 1, 2026, for any city, town or county that requires permits, plan reviews or inspections for one and two family homes.

The local office tells you within 3 business days whether your application is complete.
A required plan review is done within 7 business days after the office tells you the application is complete.
The office must also tell you whether it can do inspections within 3 business days of a written request.
You can hire a private provider (a registered architect or engineer, or a certified building official) for the plan review, the inspections or both, at your own cost, whether or not the office can meet those times. If you planned to use the office, it says it cannot do the review or inspection in time, and you switch to a private provider, the office must refund what you paid it for that work, less a convenience fee of up to $100.
The local office cannot require an architect or engineer to draw plans for a home built to the state code, except to show that alternate materials or methods are equivalent.

A 2026 law, House Enrolled Act 1001 (signed March 4, 2026), added that from July 1, 2026, a city or county that misses these deadlines must forfeit or refund its regulatory fees, unless the delay is one the law excuses.

Minimum house size

We found no statewide minimum house size and no state law that limits local minimums for site-built homes. Your city or county zoning decides. The 2026 housing law lists waiving minimum lot size and square footage rules among the changes each city, town and county must review at the hearing it has to hold by January 1, 2027 (see the ADU section), but it does not require the change.

Tiny homes on wheels

Indiana law has no category of its own for a tiny home on wheels, and how one is labeled is not settled. Three things point different ways.

State law (IC 9-13-2-150) counts a park model as a recreational vehicle. It must be designed and marketed as temporary living quarters for recreational, camping, travel or seasonal use, not permanently attached to land as a permanent home, built on a single chassis on wheels, no more than 400 square feet, and certified by its maker to the ANSI A119.5 standard. The same definition says a mobile structure is not a recreational vehicle.
State law also defines a "mobile structure" (IC 22-12-1-17) as a unit designed to be towed and connected to utilities for year-round use, including as a one or two family home. The Department of Homeland Security certifies mobile structures with a blue state seal, and says its mobile structures code covers single commercial and residential add-on units up to 16 feet wide.
Neither definition names tiny homes on wheels, and we found no state agency guidance that says which one a tiny home on wheels falls under.

A tiny home on wheels that its maker certifies to the ANSI A119.5 park model standard fits the park model wording. One built for year-round living and hooked up to utilities may fit the mobile structure wording instead. A homemade or uncertified one fits neither label cleanly. The label can decide where zoning lets you live in it and how it is titled and taxed, so get your city or county's answer in writing before you buy or build, and ask the Bureau of Motor Vehicles how it will be titled.

We found no state law that allows or bans living full time in an RV or a tiny home on wheels. That is a local zoning question, and local rules can be strict. Jefferson County, for example, allows an RV to be used as a dwelling only in a campground.

Campgrounds and RV parks

The Indiana Department of Health sets campground rules in 410 IAC 6-7.1. The rule defines a campground as a place where sites are leased or rented for 10 or more tents, RVs, park models or vacation mobile homes, run for recreational, health, education, religious, business or tourist activities "away from established residences." Whether a campground lets you stay year-round is up to the park and local zoning, so ask each one.

Modular and manufactured homes

The Department of Homeland Security runs the state program for modular homes, which it calls industrialized building systems. Each modular home is built to the state's one and two family code, inspected in the factory and labeled with a gold state seal, usually inside the electric panel cover. Your local building official oversees setting it on the site.

A manufactured home is one built to the federal HUD code, and it carries a red HUD label. Indiana law (IC 36-7-4-1106) lets local zoning hold a manufactured home to the same standards as other houses, including setbacks, minimum square footage and some looks like roofing, siding and roof pitch. It also stops zoning from shutting larger manufactured homes out of lots where other houses are allowed. The size line depends on the kind of planning office. Every version protects homes with more than 950 square feet of occupied space, though in some versions the home must also be more than 23 feet wide. A tiny home is far smaller, so this law helps larger manufactured homes, not tiny ones.

ADU rules

Indiana has no law that requires cities or counties to allow an ADU. Two recent laws touch on them without requiring them.

The 2026 housing law (House Enrolled Act 1001) defines an ADU, from July 1, 2026, as a self-contained unit inside or on the same lot as a single family home, with its own cooking, sleeping and bathroom facilities, no larger than 75 percent of the main home's interior living area or 1,000 square feet, whichever is less. It does not count a manufactured home covered by the state's manufactured home zoning law (IC 36-7-4-1106).
The same law requires each city, town and county to hold a public hearing by January 1, 2027, to review its zoning and development rules "with the goal of increasing housing development," and to send a report to the Legislative Services Agency. The list of changes to consider includes ADUs, manufactured and modular housing, and waiving minimum lot size and square footage rules. Holding the hearing is required. Changing the rules is not.
The 2025 law (House Enrolled Act 1005) added to an older list of housing policies that earn local governments priority for loans from the state's residential housing infrastructure fund. A government needs a majority of the policies, and allowing housing types including ADUs and manufactured and modular homes was already on the list.

Some summaries of the 2026 law describe ADUs as allowed by right with a local opt-out. That was not in the final law we read, so we do not say it here. Until your city or county changes its rules, its current ADU rules apply.

Cities set their own rules. Two examples:

Fort Wayne's city council approved ADU zoning changes on March 25, 2025, with a freestanding ADU allowed as a special use approved by the Board of Zoning Appeals. Allen County's commissioners approved their ADU changes on December 13, 2024. Both use an ADU permit from the Allen County Department of Planning Services.
Bloomington began allowing ADUs in 2017 and simplified its review in 2020. In 2023 it published 12 pre-approved ADU designs from local architects and designers.

City rules do not override deed restrictions or HOA covenants, so check those too.

Other recent laws

The 2026 housing law also:

From January 1, 2027, requires a city, town or county to grant a permit on a complete application when the project meets the zoning and other local rules in effect on the day the application is submitted.
From January 1, 2027, limits building and permit fees to what is reasonably needed to cover the local cost, and limits most increases to once every five years and to the rise in consumer prices over those five years. It also delays a building permit fee increase on new development until 180 days after the ordinance is published.
Bars state agencies and local governments from requiring an arc-fault circuit interrupter in one and two family homes built after June 30, 2026.
Bars state and local governments from requiring compensatory storage at a ratio greater than three to one (mitigated land to filled land) when you fill land in a flood plain.

Septic

The Indiana Department of Health writes the septic rule (410 IAC 6-8.3), and local health departments run it. If the home will not be on a sewer, you need a written construction permit from the local health officer before you start building the home or place a manufactured, modular or mobile home. A home that is not on a sewer needs an onsite system, usually a septic tank and a soil absorption field. A temporary holding tank is allowed only in narrow cases, with written approval from the state or, in a few temporary situations, the local health department, so it is not a plan for full-time living. Local health departments issue more than 15,000 permits a year for new systems.

If you plan to use a composting toilet, ask the local health department first how it affects the permit, since the home will still produce sink and shower water.

Wells

The Indiana Department of Natural Resources licenses water well drillers and pump installers, and its website lists licensed contractors by area.

Where to start

Not sure which office covers your land? USA.gov's local government finder points to a directory of Indiana's counties and cities, with their websites and contacts.
Call the city planning department, or the county if the land is outside city limits. Ask whether tiny homes and ADUs are allowed, whether there is a minimum house size, and whether a tiny home on wheels can be lived in there. Get the answer in writing.
Ask the local building department whether it requires a permit for a one or two family home, and what it needs from you.
If the land is not on sewer, ask the local health department for a site evaluation and septic permit before you buy.
For a well, hire a driller licensed by the Department of Natural Resources.
For a modular home, look for the gold state seal. For a manufactured home, look for the red HUD label.
For a tiny home on wheels, ask the Bureau of Motor Vehicles how it will be titled before you buy.
Before buying land, check the flood map, any deed restrictions and any HOA covenants.

Living in Indiana

How Indiana compares with the other 49 states on the things people weigh before a move. Figures as of November 2026.

Happiness score (WalletHub 2026). 48.38 out of 100, 33rd happiest
Cost of living (MERIC, Q2 2026; U.S. average is 100). 89.7, 9th lowest (tied with Tennessee)
State income tax. Flat 2.95 percent, plus local income taxes
Property tax, effective rate on owner-occupied homes (Tax Foundation, 2024 data). 0.76 percent, 22nd lowest
Homeowners insurance, average a year with $400,000 in dwelling coverage (NerdWallet 2026; U.S. average $2,490). $2,985
Health care (U.S. News). 37th
Education (U.S. News). 22nd
Average temperature, 1991 to 2020. 52.4 degrees F
Average precipitation, 1991 to 2020. 43.6 inches a year
Sunshine in Indianapolis. 55 percent of daylight hours, 88 sunny days a year
People 65 and older (2024). 17.5 percent

Indiana's cost of living is below the national average, and its housing costs are the lowest part of that index. The state income tax is a flat 2.95 percent, and local income taxes are added on top. The effective property tax rate is 0.76 percent. Homeowners insurance averages $2,985 a year with $400,000 in dwelling coverage, compared with a U.S. average of $2,490. U.S. News ranks Indiana 22nd in education and 37th in health care, and WalletHub ranks it 33rd happiest.

Rankings mix many factors, and statewide averages hide big differences between regions. The Lake Michigan shore, the farm country of the north and center, and the hills of southern Indiana differ in weather, land prices and local rules, so look at the area where you plan to live.

Tiny home communities in Indiana

Few Indiana communities for tiny homes publish their details online, and we could confirm only one on its own website. Rules, prices and openings change, so contact it directly before you plan around it.

Dwell Well, Fort Wayne. A small home development aimed at home ownership. Its website asks you to contact them about the current Fort Wayne development and does not publish home sizes, prices or a move-in date.

Ask about year-round living, availability and current prices.

Tours we have filmed in Indiana

We do not have an Indiana tour to list here yet. When we do, it will be listed here. Our tours from other states are at Tiny Home Tours by State.

Get new tours and guides

Every other Friday we send real tours, results from our audience polls, and parking and legal lessons from people living tiny. Join the Tiny Home Tours newsletter.

Frequently asked questions

Is it legal to live in a tiny house in Indiana?

Yes, on a permanent foundation, if it meets the Indiana Residential Code and local zoning, with sewer or a permitted septic system. For a tiny home on wheels, local zoning decides.

Does Indiana use Appendix Q for tiny houses?

Yes. Indiana adopted Appendix Q statewide in its residential code (675 IAC 14-4.4-242), for homes of 400 square feet or less, not counting lofts. It sets ceiling heights, loft sizes, and stair and ladder rules for tiny houses. Under a 2026 law, it stays in place after July 1, 2027, unless the legislature changes it.

Can I live in a tiny home on wheels in Indiana?

It depends on your city or county. We found no state law that allows or bans living full time in one. A certified park model counts as a recreational vehicle under state law. Jefferson County, for example, allows an RV to be used as a dwelling only in a campground. Get your county's answer in writing before you buy.

Does Indiana's 2026 housing law allow ADUs?

Not by itself. House Enrolled Act 1001 defines an ADU and requires every city, town and county to hold a hearing by January 1, 2027, on changes that could increase housing, including ADUs, but it does not require any of them to allow ADUs. Ask your city or county what its current rules are.

Do I need a septic permit for a tiny home in Indiana?

Yes, if the home will not be on a sewer. You need a written construction permit from the local health department before you start building or place the home.

Sources

This page explains the rules in general terms and is not legal advice. Local rules vary. Confirm with your city or county before you buy land or a home.

Hero photo: Brown County State Park, by Steven Van Elk on Unsplash.