Unauthorized DIY tiny homes spring up in crime and vagrant-riddled Portland - one 'owner' even installing a basketball hoop

Homeless people are building their own tiny homes across Portland neighborhoods overrun with vagrants as the crisis deepens.

The one-room shacks are nailed together using scrounged wood from pallets and abandoned rubbish, complete with windows and doors.

One ingenious architect even added a basketball hoop to the side of a wall, made of wood and some kind of salvaged material bent into a ring.

But the creative, though unauthorized, solution to staying out of the elements had a darker side, with a local claiming some tiny home were used by criminals.

The one-room shacks are nailed together using scrounged wood from pallets and abandoned rubbish, complete with windows and doors

Another was still under construction, showing the haphazard nature of the DIY construction with disparate pieces of wood

Portland's homeless population jumped 65 per cent from 1,887 to 6,297 between 2015 and 2023, some 5,398 of whom are unsheltered

'I'm finding tiny homes built by the homeless popping up on nearly every block in some neighborhoods,' social worker Kevin Dahlgren wrote.

'This one is quite nice and even has a basketball hoop. Another was I saw today though was used for prostitution and another for drugs.'

The home with the hoop was surrounded by extra wood, two shopping trolleys, and random rubbish.

Another was still under construction, showing the haphazard nature of the DIY construction with disparate pieces of wood.

Portland has official villages of tiny homes it constructed to get homeless off the streets, and plans to add another 100 in coming months.

The shelters cost about $16,000 each, and are about 8ft on each side - enough room for a single bed and some drawers.

Portland has official villages of tiny homes it constructed to get homeless off the streets, and plans to add another 100 in coming months

A person lays on the street in the Old Town Chinatown neighborhood in downtown Portland

Tents line the sidewalk on SW Clay Street in Portland as 5,398 sleep rough in the city

Each of the Safe Rest Villages dotted around the city costs $15 million to $3 million a year to operate, including staff, maintenance,  mental health support, and food. Utilities are additional and vary between sites.

By last August, there were 400 homes across seven villages, and the city has added more since then. Each village has bathrooms, a laundry, kitchen, and garden.

However, opponents argue villages of tiny homes waste money that would be better spent building affordable housing.

Portland's homeless population jumped 65 per cent from 1,887 to 6,297 between 2015 and 2023, some 5,398 of whom are unsheltered.

Multnomah County plans to create enough shelters for about 2,700 people by the end of next year.