Designer Harrison Marshall couldn't find an affordable flat in London. Necessity being the mother of invention, he decided to make his home in a converted dumpster.
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00:00Rents in London are among the highest in Europe.
00:03Having a roof over your head, no matter how small, is priceless.
00:07Hi, I'm Harrison. I'm a designer living in a skip house.
00:10Please come in.
00:13Is it even possible to live in a dumpster?
00:16On two and a half square meters without a bathroom or even a toilet?
00:21Could you live like that?
00:23It seems Harrison Marshall can.
00:25But why does he want to?
00:27The idea came a few years ago when I was working abroad for a few months, coming back to London.
00:34I needed to find a new place to live.
00:36And as was the case with thousands of people, I found that the rent was crazy.
00:42Harrison's solution was to move into a dumpster in the middle of London, which he did in January 2022.
00:50The lot was provided by an art and architecture foundation.
00:54Of course, there are several limitations.
00:57To take showers, for instance, Harrison goes to a local gym.
01:02The water comes from my very kind neighbor just over the wall there.
01:08So we just run a hose that jumps over and then hooks up to this tap outside.
01:14Just a very small container.
01:16So I usually have to fill that up probably once a day, which is not too bad.
01:20The extension on top of the dumpster is a wooden construction with space for Harrison's bed.
01:25The plywood interior paneling makes it surprisingly livable, even cozy.
01:32I find it quite comfortable to sleep here.
01:34I think the curved roof makes it feel less coffin-like, even though it's a small space.
01:41There's not like a box feeling, I think, just because of that, the shape.
01:46It also means I never bang my head.
01:49Harrison does feel a bit hard-pressed when he has to go to the toilet.
01:53It offers all the privacy of a funfair port-a-potty.
01:57Obviously, one of the big cons is our toilet is outside.
02:01It's not the most luxurious toilet either, but it does the job.
02:05On the flip side, Harrison lives in the center of London, rent-free.
02:10He only pays for water and power.
02:14The designer bought the dumpster for the equivalent of €1,000 and then invested another €5,000 into converting it.
02:21Originally, Harrison had intended to live in the dumpster for no more than a year.
02:26That turned into two, and then into indefinitely.
02:32My background is architecture, design and construction, so I felt like there must be some kind of loophole
02:38or some kind of thing that I could do to create somewhere comfortable.
02:43And as well as that, use the project as a vehicle to make a commentary on this issue that is affecting so many millions of people.
02:53But London isn't the only expensive city.
02:56From 2010 to 2022, rents across the European Union rose by nearly 20%,
03:02making housing unaffordable for many in big cities.
03:06In Paris, the rent per square meter averages around €30.
03:11In Amsterdam, it's about €26.
03:15But an average of some €34 per square meter makes London the most expensive metropolis in Europe,
03:22a state of affairs that Harrison was not prepared to take lying down.
03:30Things become normalized very quickly.
03:32So when rent used to be £600, it would be a lot and people would complain for a room.
03:36Then it's £700, then it's £800, then it's £900.
03:40Every increment, it becomes normal and just has to be accepted.
03:44And at what point do you push back and at what point do you create some kind of stand?
03:51Even if Harrison lives in a minimum of space, he's still got room for company and even for dinner with them.
04:00So does living in a limited space mean a limited life overall?
04:06Obviously, there's signs on the fence.
04:08In some ways, it's less restrictive because I'm not having to pay a massive rent lump sum every month.
04:16The wage that I do get, even though it's not large, it's allowed me to do more with that money
04:23or, you know, travel more with it, meet up with friends, hang out.
04:28Whereas if I was having to spend 60% of my income on my rent, suddenly none of that is possible.
04:36Could you imagine living like this?
04:40And do you have ideas of your own for dealing with the horrendous rents in Europe and other parts of the world?