Why shipping container homes are overrated

Подробнее о видео

They’re fun. They’re also way more difficult to build than they seem.

Subscribe and turn on notifications 🔔 so you don't miss any videos:

Shipping container homes have been a trend for a while, from reality TV shows to housing policy discussions. But the truth is that these homes are a lot more difficult to build than you might think.

It’s easy to think that housing solutions are purely technological, but many obstacles to housing aren’t in construction but in the policies surrounding homebuilding. Moreover, many of the supposed advantages of shipping containers turn out to be more complicated in reality.

Vox’s Phil Edwards spent a night in a shipping container home to see how the experience of staying in a shipping container compares with the reality of building one.

Further Reading:

Mark Hogan’s 2015 opinion piece about shipping containers is a great introduction to the topic:
Belinda Carr’s debunking of shipping containers gets into more building science detail:
She’s also an even-handed critic and made a video about five shipping container successes:
You can check out Michael’s Airbnbs here:

Make sure you never miss behind-the-scenes content in the Vox Video newsletter, sign up here:

Vox.com is a news website that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines. Check out

Support Vox's reporting with a one-time or recurring contribution:

Shop the Vox merch store:

Watch our full video catalog:

Follow Vox on Facebook:
Follow Vox on Twitter:
Follow Vox on TikTok: