Rent prices are higher than ever and with the ongoing cost of living crisis, some families are struggling to make ends meet. While there has been an increase in people starting 'side hustles' to try and bring in some extra cash, others have been coming up with even more creative ways to combat rising costs.
Artist Harrison Marshall is one of them. After getting fed up with how much people were charging for accommodation, he decided to take things into his own hands and live in a skip.
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Yes, you read that right. A skip.
Harrison, who is the co-founder of Caukin Studio, described the move as a 'statement' in the face of the 'crazy' cost of living in London, which like Manchester, has seen rent prices and the overall demand for properties soar.
He made the move to his new home in Bermondsey, south-east London, in January, and plans to live there for a year.
The 28-year-old said the move is “not intended to be a solution to the rising cost of living” but is instead intended to get people talking about cost-of-living problems in London.
"It’s very hard to replicate. So, really, it’s more of a statement and something which tackles or talks about the issue in a light-hearted way and highlights just how crazy it is to live in central London," he said.
“For me to live in this area, this was the only option for me to do that, which is just mad.”
Harrison's new home is comprised of a standard 8-yard skip with an insulated timber frame and a barrel roof – the artist also has access to a portaloo, while he will mostly shower at work or the gym.
It has been provided for a nominal rate of £50 a month, while the initial build-cost of the ‘property’ was £4,000.
The Skip House is part of a public initiative that Harrison has worked with on a number of projects called the Skip Gallery, which is intended to create space and opportunity for emerging artists. He said he always wondered if it was possible to live in a skip but it was when when he returned from a working trip abroad in 2022 and started looking for a room that the idea became more appealing.
“When I came back to London I started the hunt for a room, and, obviously, within that timeframe, the prices had gone kind of crazy,” he said.
“People were getting hundreds of messages for a single room… it was at the point where if you weren’t willing to put your deposit down the same day as viewing it, you didn’t really stand a chance.
“And so that’s when I started picking up the idea again, about is it actually possible to live in a skip?"
After several months of sofa-surfing, plans for the Skip House were approved. It took around three weeks to construct, and Harrison was able to move in at the start of 2023.
“I’ve had friends come over already, everyone wants to come and see the new place,” he said.
“All the neighbours are incredibly friendly. If I’m outside for five minutes I’ll have at least one or two people from the area come up to me and ask what I’m doing and how I am.”
Harrison has gone viral on TikTok as he shared the process of renovating his skip into a home, saying he has his house has become an attraction.
In the video, Harrison said: "When you wake up and realise that you've been added to the local walking tour..." as someone appeared to be talking to a group of sightseers about the artist's skip.
A huddle of people were videoed by Harrison as they looked on at the renovated skip, taking pictures of the attraction.
In another TikTok, the artist gave followers an inside tour of his home. He said: "With rental prices at an all time high, I decided to explore a different option for myself."
The video has racked up over 205k views in just 16 hours and viewers were impressed with the artist's work however horrified that this is what the cost of living crisis had come to.
One person, @Heretical.lean, commented: "A generation so screwed by the previous we're having to do things like this."
User tylerdelorean added: "This artwork needs to be in politicians faces all day long."
@Bureaudechange commented: "Housing crisis so bad ppl living in skips now."
Mr Marshall has decorated his new home with friends’ artwork and gifts from his family, and soon hopes to be connected to a power source which will enable him to use a heater and a cooker.
However, the artist is adamant that the project, which required support from a number of different organisations to become workable, is not meant to be aspirational.
“No-one should have to live in a skip,” he said. “That’s definitely not the way that I want this project to go. It’s more of a statement.”
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