{"id":13301,"date":"2024-01-13T14:29:18","date_gmt":"2024-01-13T14:29:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/?p=13301"},"modified":"2024-01-13T19:05:26","modified_gmt":"2024-01-13T19:05:26","slug":"airbnb-shipping-container-and-student-shipping-container-housing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/2024\/01\/airbnb-shipping-container-and-student-shipping-container-housing\/","title":{"rendered":"Airbnb Shipping Container and Student Shipping Container Housing"},"content":{"rendered":"

BBC Unexpected Elements podcast this week concluded with a brief piece about staying in an Airbnb Shipping Container and Student Shipping Container Housing.<\/p>\n

Chhavi Sachdev: I\u2019ve experienced firsthand what a container feels like because I went to stay in an Airbnb which was a tiny house and it was basically a container refitted to be a little space and it was so compact and so nicely designed it was quite, quite amazing.<\/p>\n

Marnie Chesterton: Did they cut windows into it? Or did you just stay in a box?<\/p>\n

Chhavi Sachdev: No, they had cut windows into it. And the bathroom was surprisingly spacious. I was quite impressed with it. The designer must have done a good job. Everything was sort of compact and everything had a space and little nooks and shelves for all the things you could possibly need.<\/p>\n

Marnie Chesterton : So, I\u2019ve lived in a couple of cities that have chronic housing shortages and certainly in Amsterdam when I was living there they\u2019d worked out that they could make student accommodation by just stacking up shipping containers and then kind of punching a door and a window in them. And there wasn\u2019t a great deal of work that was done to make them look not like a shipping container. But, I think the students were just grateful for somewhere to live.<\/p>\n

Chhavi Sachdev: Yeah, I think it\u2019s got great potential for all kinds of space issues<\/p>\n

BBC Unexpected Elements, January 11, 2024
\nhttps:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/sounds\/play\/w3ct4wkn<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"\"
Shipping Containers Student Housing, Le Havre France, Normandy
Photo by Philippe Al\u00e8s<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you search “shipping containers student housing” you will find photos of student apartments made from shipping containers all over the world.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Inside 20-foot Studio Container Home
Bob’s Containers<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of the links led me to this listing on eBay.<\/p>\n

This 20-foot container is insulated with closed cell spray foam in the floor, ceiling and all of the walls.  It has 125 amp 12 slot panel breaker box.  It has one door and one window.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Inside 20-foot Studio Container Home
Bob’s Containers<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The 20-foot container is finished inside with white shiplap siding and vinyl flooring.<\/p>\n

Bob’s Containers 20 ft Efficiency <\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"
Inside The Joshua
40-foot Container Home from Bob’s Containers<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Bob’s Containers lists larger 40-foot containers. This one has 320 square feet with a 10-foot ceiling.<\/p>\n

Bob’s Containers 40 ft Container Home – “The Joshua”<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"
Paul and Sarah’s Shipping Container Home
Photo by ROLU<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This backyard cabin is made out of two 20-foot shipping containers.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Shipping Container House in Sepeteri Nigeria
Photo by Milare99<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Before shipping container sizes were standardized, they came in all kinds of sizes. When the off-sized ones were retired, they were turned into housing in a lot of places.<\/p>\n

Legal Shipping Container Housing<\/h2>\n

So, how difficult is it to legally live in a shipping container home? It depends on where you live and how you go about it. This is what HUD has to say:<\/p>\n

I would like to convert shipping containers into homes. Can they be listed or sold as manufactured housing?<\/strong><\/p>\n

All manufactured homes are built to the Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards, 24 CFR Part 3280. Manufactured homes are transported in one or more sections on a permanent chassis and display a red certification label on the exterior of each transportable section.<\/p>\n

Shipping containers that are converted into housing units are subject to state and local building codes like modular and site-built homes. Converted shipping containers cannot be accepted as a HUD-code manufactured home unless they are provided with a permanent chassis and are transported to the site on their own running gear and otherwise comply with all HUD Standards and Regulations for manufactured homes.<\/p>\n

HUD U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development FAQ<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Bob’s Containers, with the listings I saw on eBay has an FAQ page that has a lot of answers. He also has financing available.<\/p>\n

Bob’s Containers Custom Shipping Containers FAQ<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BBC Unexpected Elements podcast this week concluded with a brief piece about staying in an Airbnb Shipping Container and Student Shipping Container Housing. Chhavi Sachdev: I\u2019ve experienced firsthand what a container feels like because I went to stay in an Airbnb which was a tiny …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13295,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[67],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-container-homes"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/featured-shipping_container_home.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":16291,"url":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/2025\/08\/shipping-containers-as-adus-studio-one-bedroom-and-multi-dwelling-housing\/","url_meta":{"origin":13301,"position":0},"title":"Shipping Containers as ADUs, Studio, One Bedroom and Multi-dwelling Housing","author":"Carla","date":"August 17, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday CBS Saturday Morning news had a report on turning shipping containers into housing and Compact Living, another company making shipping container homes, showed up in my Instagram feed. The news story covered larger scale projects to use shipping containers as housing. The company, Sparkbox, is already using \u00a0shipping containers\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "ADUs"","block_context":{"text":"ADUs","link":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/category\/adus\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Compact Living Container House","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/featured_mycompacthome.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/featured_mycompacthome.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/featured_mycompacthome.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/featured_mycompacthome.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":15258,"url":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/2024\/11\/2650-shipping-container-home-diy-or-ready-for-delivery\/","url_meta":{"origin":13301,"position":1},"title":"$2,650 Shipping Container Home DIY or Ready for Delivery","author":"Carla","date":"November 11, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"You can buy a container for as little as $2,650 to turn into a Shipping Container Home. Or you can buy this one that is already completed. It has two bedrooms, a full bath, kitchen, even a fireplace! The containers range in price. They are listed at $2,650, $2,750, $3,300,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Container Homes"","block_context":{"text":"Container Homes","link":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/category\/container-homes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Shipping Container Home","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/featured-shipping_container_house.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/featured-shipping_container_house.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/featured-shipping_container_house.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/featured-shipping_container_house.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2703,"url":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/2018\/04\/shipping-container-tiny-house-or-workshop\/","url_meta":{"origin":13301,"position":2},"title":"Shipping Container Tiny House or Workshop","author":"Carla","date":"April 30, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"This guy showed up in my Facebook MarketPlace feed this morning. He sells shipping containers out of Lyman, South Carolina. He sells them \u201cas is\u201d or he paints them and puts in doors and windows. I\u2019ve seen a lot of shipping container homes on Pinterest. Some are really cute. Some\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Container Homes"","block_context":{"text":"Container Homes","link":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/category\/container-homes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Shipping Container - Project Small House","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/featured_image-shipping_containers.jpg?fit=1200%2C639&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/featured_image-shipping_containers.jpg?fit=1200%2C639&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/featured_image-shipping_containers.jpg?fit=1200%2C639&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/featured_image-shipping_containers.jpg?fit=1200%2C639&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/featured_image-shipping_containers.jpg?fit=1200%2C639&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7201,"url":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/2020\/02\/casa-cubed-shipping-container-homes\/","url_meta":{"origin":13301,"position":3},"title":"Casa Cubed Shipping Container Homes","author":"Carla","date":"February 25, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"A new Container house showed up in my Facebook feed this morning. They are made by Casa Cubed. I looked them up. This is their website: casacubed.com This is their Facebook page: www.facebook.com\/CasaCubedLLC They are a family owned and operated company. Andres and Maria Guillama, build these container houses in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Container Homes"","block_context":{"text":"Container Homes","link":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/category\/container-homes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Casa Cubed Shipping Container Homes","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/featured-casa_cubed-2.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/featured-casa_cubed-2.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/featured-casa_cubed-2.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/featured-casa_cubed-2.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7206,"url":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/2020\/02\/step-by-step-container-home-conversion-by-casa-cubed\/","url_meta":{"origin":13301,"position":4},"title":"Step-by-Step Container Home Conversion by Casa Cubed","author":"Carla","date":"February 25, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Casa Cubed builds container houses in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. They post photos on their Facebook page as they build. Building a Container Home Outside They start by cutting the openings for french doors and windows. The exterior walls are clad in cedar. Cedar is beautiful, natural and durable. They\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Container Homes"","block_context":{"text":"Container Homes","link":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/category\/container-homes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Casa Cubed Shipping Container Homes","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/featured-casa_cubed-1.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/featured-casa_cubed-1.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/featured-casa_cubed-1.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/featured-casa_cubed-1.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":16441,"url":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/2023\/10\/1-bed-1-bath-custom-container-house\/","url_meta":{"origin":13301,"position":5},"title":"1 Bed 1 Bath Custom Container House","author":"Carla","date":"October 4, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm sharing a container house company someone brought to my attention. This container house was built by DM Custom Cabins. They sell DIY 8' x 40' shipping containers with holes cut for a door and windows for $8,000. For $11,000, they will frame out the interior and install windows and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Container Homes"","block_context":{"text":"Container Homes","link":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/category\/container-homes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Custom Container House","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/featured-homesby.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/featured-homesby.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/featured-homesby.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/featured-homesby.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13301"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13301\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13308,"href":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13301\/revisions\/13308"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13295"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}