Homeless Vets Call Out Tiny Home Plan in West LA

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is facing backlash from veterans over a plan to build up to 800 tiny homes this year on its West Los Angeles campus.

The proposal, which surfaced this week during a federal court hearing, calls for the construction of hundreds of 8-by-8-foot sheds to house veterans, the Los Angeles Times reported. Critics, including veterans themselves, argue that the small structures that are often used as quick fixes for homelessness are cramped, inaccessible and unfit for lengthy stays.

“I don’t think that’s suitable at all,” said Rob Reynolds, an Iraq war veteran who was part of a 2022 federal lawsuit asking for more housing. That effort also called for an end to leases of large portions of the 388-acre campus to outside interests such as the University of California, Los Angeles, and the Brentwood School.

The more than 100 tiny homes already installed near San Vicente Boulevard have already proven problematic, particularly for residents using wheelchairs and walkers. Fire safety and durability have also emerged as concerns.

In 2024, U.S. District Court Judge David O. Carter ordered the VA to build more than 2,500 units of temporary and permanent housing on top of an earlier mandate for 1,200 permanent units. In December, an appeals court upheld that order. Carter questioned in the hearing on Tuesday whether relocating homeless veterans from Skid Row to small sheds on the Westside would meaningfully improve their situation and suggested money might be better spent elsewhere.

The tiny home push also risks colliding with a separate directive from President Donald Trump in May. The president issued an executive order establishing a National Center for Warrior Independence on the West Los Angeles campus, envisioned to include housing for up to 6,000 veterans. VA officials have not clarified whether the sheds are meant to satisfy the court order, advance the Warrior Independence center housing or both.

The additional residences would replace a parking lot and grass field next to the existing tiny home village alongside San Vicente Boulevard. The VA has enough funds in its current authorization to complete the temporary housing by the end of 2026, but not enough for the permanent housing portion, Robert Fleck, acting principal general counsel for the VA, told the court.

— Chris Malone Méndez