Tiny houses are welcome in Nantucket, but less so in Millis and downright objectionable in Concord, ironically the home of the “2nd BIG Tiny house Festival in 2016,” attorney Olympia Bowker writes in the Real Estate Bar Association blog.

What matters most to municipalities seems to be whether or not the tiny house is built on wheels or not. A wheeled tiny house  typically faces three kinds of hurdles, Bowker writes:

Prohibition. Some municipalities outright prohibit whatever qualifies as a mobile home (tiny homes included) except in emergency circumstances (such as Stow and Milford), while others simply omit them from their tables of permitted uses (such as Franklin and Northborough).

Restriction. Other municipalities restrict the location of mobile homes to specific zoning districts, or trailer parks (like Westborough and Hudson). While some towns allow mobile homes as detached accessory apartments, depending on the municipality, there may be a familial relation requirement on the resident of the subordinate structure.

Special permit. Often, mobile homes are only allowed with a special permit, and often the permission is only for a matter of weeks (such as in Maynard, Marlborough, Dedham, Cambridge).

Bowker advises homebuyers and their attorneys to do their homework before buying or building a tiny house on their lot.