An architect, who plans to live in a house he has built in a skip on the site which was once home to the iconic Soviet tank nicknamed ‘Stompie’, is being welcomed by his neighbours in Bermondsey.
Harrison Marshall, 28, has built a house in a skip which he plans to live in for a whole year to raise awareness about people being forced out of their homes because of soaring rent prices in London.
It all started a few months ago when he moved back to London after spending a few years living abroad and needed to sort out where to live – but prices were ‘through the roof.’
WATCH: A tour of The Skip House that has settled in Bermondsey
“It’s no surprise that prices have gone through the roof.
“Places that I used to be able to afford are now way out of my price range,” he said.
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Inspired by his work in design and construction, The Skip House is part of his wider project to use his skills to highlight issues being faced by communities.
“It seems crazy that people work in the city and can’t afford to live here – or people who have lived here their whole lives can’t afford to stay here so they’re having to move out.”
He explained that the skip was ‘the only way’ for him to live in this area.
That said, he is hoping to ignite a conversation around housing and how wasteland is used. “There’s got to be more creative solutions to the housing crisis,” he said.
“I started contacting different people and landowners after I had the idea. The landowners are kindly letting me use it for free.”
“I had a lot of very nice friends helping me out each day,” he said.
Harrison has been couch-surfing for the last couple of months and the construction process took about three to four weeks in total.
Tanks to the NHS! Iconic Bermondsey tank given makeover to thank nurses and doctors
In terms of actually living there, he said he will be showering at work and the gym and he hopes to have electricity by the end of this week. “That will mean I can have some heating finally – as it’s quite chilly at night and I’ll be able to cook.”
A portaloo was ‘generously’ donated for the project.
But Harrison said the best thing about it is the neighbours. “They are probably the best thing about this whole project,” he said.
Last week, he posted leaflets through their doors and had a ‘skip-warming party’ to introduce himself and the new addition to the area.
“About 20-25 people turned up and it was really nice. They’re all super supportive – the last people didn’t leave till after midnight.
“Even in the last week, people have seen me doing stuff in the garden and gone to get their tools and come to help out and people around have filled up my hot water bottle.”
Doris, who was walking by when the News visited and lives next door said she is ‘very happy’ with her new neighbour.
“Harrison is an extremely nice man and I’m very happy to welcome him and his skip,” she said, while Harrison joked that his “door is always open for a sherry.”
Harrison, who is originally from Brighton, said his goal is to live in it for a year – but if he needed to move it to another spot for whatever reason, he could.
This small patch of land has a history of art installations with a political objective. Stompie the Soviet battle tank occupied this same bit of land for decades and was only removed in January last year for ‘restoration’.
Long-standing urban legend has it that the tank was put there over a planning dispute with the council.
It has been said that the current owner’s father lost a planning decision with the council, so instead placed the tank there – with its guns pointing in the direction of Southwark Council’s former offices in Camberwell.
Stompie was frequently decorated by graffiti artists. In April 2020 it was given a blue makeover to thank the NHS staff for their work during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Current landowner Rhys Gray previously told the News that the T-34 tank was being restored but did not know how long the restoration process would take, saying that “it might be a week, it might be two years.”
“Lots of locals have told me about it – they were sad to see it leave but the site owner is trying to make sure it stays as a kind of landmark, rather than doing a standard development,” Harrison said.
Pat, the landlord of the nearby The Victoria pub on Page’s Walk, said he was happy to have Harrison as a new regular: “He’s been in lots of times and is a lovely lad. It’s great, he’s just bringing to light about wasteland and rent going up.”
Harrison pays £50 a month for the skip hire, and the initial cost to build his home in it was £4,000.
Follow us on TikTok @southwarknews later this evening for a virtual tour around the Skip House
Comment: The house in a skip that’s got everyone talking about rent
